


it's off with his head and on with the show

by darknesshadows (FeatheredShadow)



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Mystery, Parabatai Bond, Pining, Wings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2019-10-25 19:49:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17731523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeatheredShadow/pseuds/darknesshadows
Summary: The Uprising had never stopped, the war still raging on when Valentine had sent Jace to the New York Institute for an infiltration mission. No one had expected what would come of it, or where that would lead him afterwards - Jace least of all. After all, who could have expected a Circle member to pledge himself in the service of a creature older and far more powerful than those they usually hunted?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shirasade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shirasade/gifts).



> So... guess who's back? ;)  
> I guess we can safely say I didn't definitely drop the fandom, only that I took a much-needed break.  
> This fic is dedicated to [**shirasade**](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shirasade/pseuds/shirasade), who lured me back with her wonderful fic _[where the dark has no room to touch](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16128386)_. What can I say, I'm a woman of simple tastes, I see a Jalec wings!fic from one of my favorite authors, I'm lured back to read it (for my greatest pleasure).  
> Anyway, enough talking, I hope you will all enjoy what I came up with. Have fun!

_Now let it bleed_  
_It's off with his head, and on with the show_  
_The old king is dead, gone in one fatal blow_  
_And I don't believe he'll be coming back for more_  
_Taking the crown of the brand new low_

[Sum 41 - Goddamn I'm Dead Again](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbqsGxm7iLQ)

* * *

 

Jace landed on the rooftop with a soft _thump_ , dust and leaves rising around him before settling down as he folded his wings against his back. The building was abandoned – as many others were in the block – and nobody seemed to have come here for a long time, not even bored teenagers.

All the better for him, then.

Scanning his surroundings, he slowly made his way to the very border of the rooftop, looking at the streets sprawled underneath. There didn’t seem to be any activity here either, but he knew better than to be fooled by the quietness of the place. His informants had made it clear the abandoned set of buildings had become a place of meetings for people who were part of the so-called “Resistance”, and he had had to stop himself from rolling his eyes when he had learned about it. Only unexperienced children would think it a good idea to meet in an empty place where any trace of activity would attract attention, whereas professionals like him knew better.

Then again, he could count on one hand the amount of Shadowhunters who had received a proper training in strategy – and not the few classes that passed for it, no matter the Institute.

The Clave had never been too good at strategy either – and only their _alliance_ (if it could be called like that) with Downworlders had managed to give them enough leeway to be able to slow down Valentine’s in his quest for supreme power.

Jace frowned a little at the thought, looking at the empty bookstore on the other side of the street. Cold wind was blowing over New-York and he forced his wings to come closer to his body, giving him some much needed warmth. _Valentine_ was the real problem here, not the Clave and their incompetence.

(Although, their incompetence had been source of enough _displeasure_ with certain people – something that never failed to send a cold shiver down his spine.)

A movement caught his attention and he looked more attentively at the street, stopping himself from rolling his eyes when he recognized the two persons walking towards the bookstore, a decided allure in their steps. There was Valentine’s daughter – Clarissa, although she preferred to be called Clary – and her idiot _vampire_ of a boyfriend.

(The irony of Valentine’s daughter dating a Downworlder wasn’t lost on him and hadn’t failed to make him laugh, when he had first learned about it, but it had slowly turned into more of a problem than a source of amusement.)

He watched them look around them – always around, never _over_ – before entering the bookstore.  An ominous purple light flickered for a brief second and Jace looked a little closer, before nodding in appreciation. A warlock was involved – which fitted with his information – and he quickly spotted the couples of werewolves that were also slowly making their way towards the bookstore. None of them had the good sense to thoroughly check their surroundings and he remained in position when the purple light flickered again. He waited a couple more minutes to see if anyone else was coming – but no, at least, they couldn’t be accused of lateness, amateurs as they were.

A rogue Shadowhunter (if Clarissa Morgenstern could be called as such), a Daylighter, werewolves and at least one warlock teaming up together to fight both the Clave and the Circle at the same time.

The Elders wouldn’t be happy to learn their suspicions had proven to be right.

Still, he had been given a mission, and he wasn’t quite done yet. Sighing a little, he settled over the edge of the rooftop, sitting down in what he hoped would be a comfortable position. It would be easier to watch over the exit of the bookstore from there, and he knew no one would be able to come behind his back – he would hear them all, Nephilims or werewolves. The only known Daylighter was down there and there was no chance another vampire would be able to sneak on him during the day.

Warlocks wouldn’t be able to sneak up on him either – portals were noisy, and he had learned to recognize the sounds that came with a portal opening through the wind.

Missions of surveillance were of no novelty to him – hell, he had done enough of them on his father’s orders, and then during his stay at the New York Institute, and then again for his father – but they still held the same boredom that got an itch under the skin.

(Well, not _all_ of them had been so boring, but it was best not to think about those particular memories while he was on a mission for the Elders. The last thing he wanted was to get distracted, and thinking about all that he had left behind when he had left the Institute for Valentine’s forces was sure to be a distraction.)

(And distraction got people killed.)

Still… his thoughts had gone on this particular track once again, and he felt himself frown, slightly shaking his head as he kept his eyes fixed on the door of the bookstore. He couldn’t leave and blow some steam hunting a demon to get those memories off his mind – he had to deal with them until the meeting of the little group of misfits was done, to make sure he knew the identity of all the participants.

Thinking about Alec Lightwood was not something he ought to do when he wasn’t in the privacy of his bedroom.

His left flank burnt slightly when the face of the Shadowhunter came to his mind and he sighed, shoulders falling down. Joining the New York Institute had been supposed to be a long-term infiltration mission – get in, find out the weaknesses of the Institute and of its fighters, try to see who could be recruited for the Circle, get out – but he hadn’t been supposed to bond with the Nephilims who lived there.

Finding a parabatai and falling in love certainly hadn’t been part of the mission, and his father had been more than disappointed when he had learned about it.

_“To love is to destroy, and to be loved is to be destroyed, Jace,”_ Valentine had told him when he had found out about the parabatai bond, with a terrible look in his eyes. _“Binding your soul in that way is a terrible mistake.”_

_“It will be easier to convince the Lightwoods to join us that way,”_ Jace remembered having said, completely and utterly assured of that fact.

Well, he had been wrong.

Izzy had spit on his face when the truth had finally come out about his real allegiance, and Alec… well, the look of horror and utter betrayal on his parabatai’s face hadn’t been something that had left him in peace ever since. They had both refused his offer to join him and the Circle, and he had left after that, not bothering to try any further to convince them.

(Valentine hadn’t been happy about it – had called his parabatai rune a _hindrance_ and had put a blocking rune on it, forcibly blocking the bond, something that had been painful in every possible way. Jace had left the Circle a year later, realizing that Valentine intended for the bond to remain forever blocked: it had been the final nail in the coffin for him, really showing him that he truly couldn’t abide by Valentine’s ideals any further. His father had taken it as a personal challenge and had sworn he would come back, be it crawling for forgiveness.)

(Jace hadn’t.)

The only person he regretted having left within the Circle was his brother Jonathan. They didn’t share blood but their common childhood being raised and trained by Valentine had created a firm bond between them that even his departure hadn’t been able to break. Jace knew he had been lucky, going to the New York Institute rather than being sent to Edom like Jonathan had been, but they had both managed to find common ground once they had been reunited again.

(As common as it could be, given that Jace had sworn neither the Circle nor the Clave were anything he wanted to deal with, and Jonathan was obsessed with finding _his_ little sister. They had reached an agreement over the fact that Valentine had turned them into weapons and would be ready to kill them both if it could advance his plans. Following that, they had refused to become the instrument of each other’s doom.)

(Apart from that, they were both fair game in a fight as long as it could advance their respective plans, something that had left a bitter aftertaste in Jace’s mouth.)

Movement on the street suddenly caught Jace’s attention, pulling him away from his memories. Time has flown by while he had been remembering the past few years, and he frowned a little when he saw the ominous purple light flickering again. The four werewolves left first – all members of Lucian Greymark’s pack – and then Clarissa and her idiot vampire boyfriend, shortly followed by one warlock.

The horns made it hard to ignore with the help of his runes, even from that distance, and he frowned again when he recognized the man.

_Ragnor Fell._

Interesting. The Elders would be interested in learning _that_. If a powerful warlock – that everyone thought be _dead_ , killed by Circle members – was starting to mingle with a rogue Shadowhunter, a Daylighter and werewolves, well then… Then maybe the war would come to an end at some point in his lifetime.

He waited until the group had turned over the block before slowly rising up, stretching his wings behind him, satisfaction coursing through him as the wind started to rise. It felt good to be able to stretch like that, a tremor coursing through the feathers as he surveyed his surroundings one last time before letting himself fall from the building.

The first few seconds were exhilarating, always had been, and he enjoyed the feeling before starting to fly away, quickly rising through the air before turning his attention towards his destination, taking advantage of the wind to go higher than usual.

There was nervous energy that he needed to blow off before reporting on what he had learned.

ooOoo

Flying to the current residence of the Elders had been enough to destroy all the nervousness that permeated his mind, and he felt more relaxed when he finally arrived in front of the huge mansion, taking in the number of cars that were stationed on both sides of the streets.

Visitors had come, then.

The night was falling fast, heavy clouds warning of impeding rain and maybe even a storm gathering over the building as he swiftly made his way towards the entrance. The huge wooden door opened before he even had the time to raise his fist and he quickly made his way inside as thunder brewed outside, fallen leaves entering the mansion with him. He curtly nodded to the figure who was waiting next to the door before making his way towards the huge marble stairs, footsteps dimmed by the thick carpets.

He knew his way around the mansion well enough by now – the first floor was all lit up, meaning the Elder he had come to see was in one of the lounging rooms, one that had a view on the garden and the lake below. Bouquets of roses were hooked on the walls and chandeliers were lit, telltales signs he was expected before going to the party.

A shiver went down his spine.

The third room on the right before the end of the corridor was slightly ajar and he knocked, waiting for permission before getting in. He closed the door behind him and stilled, taking in the occupants of the room.

There was the Elder he had come to see, of course – a tall, proud figure wearing an ensemble of silk and leather that wasn’t without reminding him of the Valkyries of the legends Valentine used to tell him when he was a child – a vampire he had seen before but to whom he had never been introduced, and the High Warlock of Brooklyn.

_Magnus Bane._

The were no glamour to hide his cat’s eyes and they both assessed each other carefully, his own surprise mirrored onto the warlock’s face before his mask went up.

“Come here, child,” the Elder urged him, an amused smile on her pale face, crooking her finger at him, the gesture enough to spur him into action.

Jace swiftly made his way through the room, careful not to hit anything with his wings – he had never felt ashamed of them, but their width always made him a little uncomfortable when he was inside the mansion. There were too many precious and old artifacts that could be knocked into if he wasn’t careful, and distances were never quite what they seemed to be.

“My Lady,” Jace murmured with respect, bending down to take the hand that was offered to him before pressing a gentle kiss over the emerald ring that was adorning her right ring-finger.

“What did you find, child?” the Elder asked him, an amused smile still present on her lips.

Jace swiftly looked at the High Warlock of Brooklyn, hesitancy flashing across his face before focusing on the woman in front of him. He knew she would have no qualms searching through his mind if she felt as if he had hidden something from her, and he did not to endure the burning pain that came with mind-search again.

“The encounter went as you expected, my Lady,” Jace said quietly, focusing on her pale bleu eyes rather than on the glittery, sparkly presence of the warlock next to her. “Clarissa Morgenstern is meeting with Downworlders – the Daylighter, and members of Lucian Graymark’s pack. As well as…”

He hesitated for a moment, briefly looking at the High Warlock of Brooklyn before turning his attention onto the Elder again. She wasn’t smiling anymore, a thoughtful expression on her face, eyes focused on him, and – not for the first time in her presence – he felt a shiver going down his spine. He knew she could snap his neck in the blink of an eye – she was a vampire after all, but one so old that she could walk into the light without the aid of anything, the action only due to the centuries that had gone by. He had no idea of the extent of her power – the ability of searching through somebody’s mind, to pull memories, examine them and then discard them, twisting people’s perception of reality… all these were a few of her powers, that he had seen in action, but he knew she was able to do a lot more.

Such were the Elders – the ancient, most powerful vampires to have ever walked the Earth. They all had their favorite _pets_ among mortals, and Jace he knew he was lucky to have caught the interest of the standing in the room tonight. She didn’t have a sadist streak in her body and preferred to keep an eye on him rather than toy with him.

“Someone who shouldn’t have been there?” the Elder asked slowly, an eyebrow raised, when he remained silent for too long.

Jace looked at her and then at Magnus Bane, allowing his hesitancy to show before answering.

“Ragnor Fell was there too,” he said in a quiet tone, stilling a little when the High Warlock hissed and straightened from his position on the lounging couch.

“ _Impossible_. Ragnor is dead,” the warlock said curtly, cat’s eyes flashing dangerously.

The heavy curtains hanging around the windows started to move, as if there was a light breeze into the room – impossible, as all exits were closed.

The Elder turned to look at him, an eyebrow raised, and the gesture was enough to get the warlock to cool down a little down, pushing his emotions under control.

“Are you sure, child? You have never met Ragnor Fell before,” she pointed out, gesturing for the other vampire to come and refill her glass.

Jace ignored the way fresh blood poured down from the crystal cup to the glass the Elder was holding – he had grown used to the riches of the mansion, and although he still didn’t quite feel like he belonged there, he didn’t feel like a complete fraud either.

It was difficult to remember that today, given the hard look the High Warlock of Brooklyn was giving him, a wooded, heavily-decorated rococo 18th-century table standing between them.

“No one would have any interest in taking his identity,” Jace pointed out, preferring to look at the Elder rather than at the angry warlock next to her. “I know there weren’t a lot of witnesses when he died –”

“I was _there_ ,” Magnus Bane pointed out in a low, cold voice, sparkles at the tip of his fingers.

Jace felt his wings puffing in his back and he tried to get them to flatten up, not interested in starting a fight. As realistic he was about his abilities, he didn’t think he could take down the High Warlock of Brooklyn in a fight – and he wouldn’t put it past the Elder to let it happen, if she was _bored_.

“So was Clarissa Morgenstern, and she went to the meeting without being forced to, apparently,” Jace pointed out in what he hoped was a respectful voice.

He knew what had happened, as almost everybody around New York: Clarissa had bumped into the Lightwoods a couple of months ago at the Pandemonium, she and Isabelle Lightwood had instantly hit off, while Jocelyn Fray had been kidnapped by Valentine after having gone into some kind of magical coma. After a few memorable adventures, Clarissa had managed to get her hands on the Book of the White – something that had cost Ragnor Fell his life, or so everyone had thought – and had decided to use it to wake her mother, once she could find something to give to Valentine in exchange.

She had exchanged the Mortal Cup for her mother, though, an action that had delighted Valentine and angered the Clave to no end.

(Jace wasn’t quite sure of everything that had happened – he had been trekking through the Alps on an assignment for the Elder during those few agitated weeks, and had only come back to New York when Jonathan had written to him, asking him to get a look at Clarissa and see if she could be amendable to a meeting with her brother.)

(Jace had started putting a plan together to make it happen, but so far hadn’t been able to do more a lot more than watching over her from afar, too busy with his own missions.)

(The fact that she kept sticking around the Lightwoods might explain his reluctance to get closer.)

(If he was honest with himself, he wasn’t quite ready to face his parabatai again.)

“Well, that settles the matter,” the Elder said in a somewhat-cheerful voice.

She nodded at Jace, who bowed his head before moving towards one of the windows, wings tight in his back, and turned towards the High Warlock of Brooklyn.

“Magnus, dear, you have the answer to your question, then.”

“You use the services of a Circle member, my Lady?” he asked in a flat tone of voice, not reacting when Jace bristled from his position.

The other vampire coughed to hide a smile behind her hand, eyes darting from the Elder to the window where only one wing was reflected, the other hidden by the huge drapes covering the sides of the window.

“A former Circler member, my dear,” the Elder answered with a pleasant smile.

From his position, Jace couldn’t see her eyes – but he could see clearly the frown on the warlock’s face. If he wasn’t wrong – and he doubted he was – there was powerful magic simmering close to the surface.

Then again, there was no way in hell the High Warlock of Brooklyn would be stupid enough to attack the Elder, especially in her own house.

“The child has proven himself to be more than useful,” she went on with the same tone of voice, her glass of blood in one hand, the liquid twirling with every move of the wrist.

“You trust one of Valentine’s…” cat’s eyes darted his way “experiments? Knowing how many Downworlders died because of him?”

“Do not be rude, Magnus” the Elder said flatly, all trace of smile gone from her face. “He has proven his usefulness to me.”

The warlock tilted his head to the side, gauging him before turning his attention back onto the Elder. Jace wasn’t quite sure what to make of his hostility – yes, okay, he had killed in the name of Valentine, but he also done the same when he had been a Shadowhunter attached to the New York Institute, and no one had ever held it against him, to his knowledge. To have the warlock being so distrustful in the house of the Elder stung a little, he wasn’t going to lie about it.

“Just because he looks like an angel doesn’t mean he is one,” the High Warlock pointed out, one eyebrow raised, looking at the Elder in what was an almost challenging way.

Jace felt his cheeks blush a little at the comment. It wasn’t as if he wasn’t used to the comparison – what else was he supposed to expect, considering his wings were of the purest white, with golden undertones? – but it tended to make him feel slightly uncomfortable, especially when he had been thinking about his parabatai before.

The look of reverence in Alec’s eyes every time he had laid his eyes on his wings had always been more than he could handle, even though he had hidden it most of the time.

(In public, at least.)

(In private, it had been a _very_ different matter.)

“Him and his brother –” Magnus Bane was still talking and Jace zoned into the conversation again, a frown on his face.

“Leave Jonathan out of that,” he growled, wings rising high in his back.

It wasn’t his brother’s fault that he had ended up with Lilith as a caregiver instead of someone else – like Jocelyn Fray.

Or Maryse Lightwood – although Jace wouldn’t consider her a mother figure, but she had been nice enough.

(And he wasn’t even going to think about her children – not when the Elder was looking at him with a smile at the corner of her lips.)

(Sometimes, he thought she enjoyed way too much meddling with the lives of mortals. Maybe it was a nice distraction from centuries of immortality…)

“Do you have any idea how many Downworlders your brother has killed since he started going on the battlefield?” Bane asked in the same tone, itching for a fight.

Jace frowned again.

“He doesn’t discriminate between Shadowhunters and Downworlders who are allied with the Clave,” he pointed out slowly, careful to keep his tone relaxed enough. “Those who fight with Valentine –”

“Not out of their own volition,” Bane said curtly.

“So you think,” Jace mumbled grumpily.

The High Warlock rose to his feet and Jace let go of all pretense of relaxation, wings drawn high in a protective manner before the Elder chuckled.

“Sit down, both of you. Magnus, dear, the child does not abide by Valentine’s rules anymore. Please do give him the benefit of the doubt? After all, you’ve already heard a lot about him…”

“That I did,” Bane hissed between clenched teeth before sitting down again.

Jace looked at them, an uneasy feeling pooling down in his stomach. The words of the Elder were not calm him down – he had an inkling she wasn’t talking about his reputation on the battlefield or as a former Circle member, but the alternative was nothing to ease his mind. Or maybe he was just being paranoid, because he had been thinking about the Lightwoods and she was usually quick to pick on _that_.

She looked at them both, an eyebrow raised, before taking a sip of blood, the red liquid staining her lips for a few seconds she licked it away, showing her fangs at the same time.

Jace looked away, shivering slightly. He missed the look of amusement she sent his way, Magnus Bane looking at the exchange with a thoughtful expression on his face.

“I wish I had your conviction in his character, my Lady,” he finally said in a low voice, settling down more comfortably on the couch.

Jace suddenly had the incongruous image of a panther retracting its claws to turn into a cat, but chalked it up to the tension running high in the room – that, and the fact he hadn’t eaten in too long, stomach too tight for food to appeal to him.

The Elder smiled – fangs barred in a way that did nothing to hide how powerful a predator she was.

“Blood doesn’t lie, my dear – and the child tastes exquisite.”

Bane made a face at the notion before looking at him again, studying him attentively. Jace stained not to twitch under the focus of the cat’s eyes, quickly growing uncomfortable.

Damn, he wanted to get out and he wanted to do it _now_.

“What you tasted in his blood isn’t necessarily what is present in his heart,” Bane said in a calmer voice, obviously not impressed by his overview but still intent on getting whatever it was that he had in mind when he had first come to the mansion.

Jace was slightly impressed by his guts – but then again, one simply didn’t become the High Warlock of Brooklyn by letting themselves being pushed around by older, more powerful creatures.

The Elders were just a whole different category altogether.

The other vampire looked at them, an eyebrow raised, before taking a sip from her glass with a graceful gesture, amusement clear on her face.

The Elder snickered.

“Oh, Magnus, my dear, you truly deserved your invitation here.”

She was smiling again and Jace saw the warlock relax slightly.

Obviously, he had realized he had threaded on a very fine line.

“I am here to protect my people,” Bane said simply, returning his attention to the cocktail in his hand. “As I ought to.”

“As you do,” the Elder said with a little nod of the head, before turning her attention towards Jace. “Now, child, do you think Clarissa Morgenstern can lead her little Resistance movement on her own?”

Jace blinked, looked at her, then at the warlock and the other vampire, before returning to the gaze of the Elder. There was no warmth in her eyes – as usual – and he hesitated for a moment, analyzing what he knew of Clarissa and her allies before making his answer.

“She will need the help of other Shadowhunters, if she wants to overthrow the Clave,” he said in a slow tone after a moment of reflection. “I suppose the werewolves are attached to her cause, Lucian Graymark has been head of the pack for long enough by now, but I don’t know about the vampires. Her mundane friend hasn’t made allies within the New York clan after he got turned, quite the contrary from what I heard. And I don’t think I’m in a position to talk about the warlocks,” he added calmly, nodding slightly in Bane’s direction.

“Clearly not enough, then,” the Elder said with a little hum, looking at the High Warlock with a raised eyebrow. “Well, my dear, you will not disagree with that analysis, will you?”

Magnus Bane shook his head, studying Jace again before turning his attention onto the Elder.

“I suppose your answer hasn’t changed,” he said flatly – yet still courteous, Jace nodded, an equilibrium that came with practice.

“The child is the extent of my intervention in those pesky matters,” she said calmly, gesturing for Jace to come forward.

He raised his eyebrow at the remark, unsure what to make of it. Oh, he knew she hadn’t accepted to use him out of the goodness of her heart, but he hadn’t been aware she considered her involvement in his life as an intervention into the Uprising led by Valentine against the Clave.

The High Warlock frowned too, looking at the Elder with a look of surprise on his face, head slightly tilting to the side before he took a sip of his cocktail.

“I will not bother you any further, then, my Lady. I thank you for the invitation and the time you have granted me.”

The Elder smiled, fangs showing again.

“The pleasure was mine, dear Magnus. Please do come again, if the need arises.”

He kissed the hand that was offered to him and bowed his head before leaving the room, the other vampire leading the way. Jace looked at his retreating figure before turning his attention onto the Elder, whose smile had turned more mocking.

“Am I to expect troubles with the High Warlock of Brooklyn, my Lady?” he asked respectfully, not quite knowing where to stand.

There was always the possibility of him turning into a meal for the Elder – or at least a snack, as it had happened over the years since he had entered her service.

She tutted slightly.

“Not quite, child, not quite.”

She looked at him, her pale blue eyes piercing through his defenses and he sighed a little, shoulders falling down as she peered through his mind, taking a look at the memories that were floating at the front of his mind. There was his surveillance mission, of course, and Jonathan as well, pitch-black wings sharp against the sunlight, his voice hesitant in the voicemail he had left months ago, asking for a favor regarding Clarissa – and the Lightwoods as well.

The Elder focused on this particular memory a bit longer than on the others, bringing Izzy’s voice – full of fury and betrayal – whip sharp and ready to be used in her hand to the front, before sliding to Alec’s face, the horror in his eyes in front of Jace’s betrayal.

The parabatai rune on his flank burned again and Jace’s hand moved to it, pressing against the skin to get it to calm down. He didn’t know why his rune always reacted in that way every time he thought of Alec, but the pain was a reminder of what he had lost.

The Elder hummed a little at his move before smiling again, gesturing for him to come sit on the couch next to her. Jace knew the signal and didn’t hesitate before obeying, taking off his jacket and opening the first buttons of his shirt so that his neck could easily be accessible. He knew the Elder liked to touch the skin before tearing it away, and it was in his best interests to keep her satisfied with him.

Her influence reached much farther than he could imagine, he knew that, and the fact that she had taken him into her service had been a good protection ever since. He didn’t want to envision what would happen to him if she ever grew dissatisfied with him.

“I know what you have been aching for, my child,” she said in a low voice, her fingers trailing down his neck and onto his shoulder, gliding over the lines of various runes.

Her voice had a silk-like undertone and he felt himself relax to the sound, knowing what was going to happen – she was going to debrief him, give him a new mission and feed on him, not necessarily in that order.

“It is time for you to take more… forceful actions against Valentine and his forces,” she whispered in his ear, fangs brushing against sensitive skin.

His wings were sprawled against the couch but she wasn’t touching them, apparently uninterested – something he had never understood, as all his lovers had been fascinating by their texture and color, playing with the feathers if given the opportunity.

Nothing had ever felt as good as Alec’s hands brushing through his wings, always careful and so tender.

“Do not be surprised to come across the High Warlock of Brooklyn again,” she said before running her finger against his neck, her breath cold against his skin.

“It is time to step out of the shadows, child,” she said before fangs pierced through his skin.

His breath itched at the pain and he closed his eyes, focusing on evening his breathing while the Elder was drawing blood and drinking.

It didn’t last long – it never did with her – and he barely felt dizzy when her lips left his neck, a rosiness to her cheeks that never came when she was drinking refrigerated blood.

“Exquisite, as always,” she said in a thoughtful tone before smiling again, gentle this time.

Her hand came to stroke his cheek and he let himself be petted, enjoying the tender gesture. It was rare for him to get marks of affection and he drank in it, ignoring the strange look that flicked on the Elder’s face.

“Your time has come to rise again, child,” she whispered into his ear as he suddenly felt a wave of tiredness falling over him. “Time to honor old promises… and time to honor the truth within your own heart.”


	2. Chapter 2

Days slowly trickled by, leaving Jace feeling somewhat restless. The Elder hadn’t given him clear orders on what he was supposed to do now, except that he was supposed to remain in New York for the time being, and that had left him unsettled – but with more free time on his hands to do whatever he deemed fit. There was always the odd demon to get rid of, which meant his nights weren’t empty, but hunting wasn’t enough to keep him busy all day long. In the end, he had decided to take advantage of his newfound free time to try to get closer to Clarissa Morgenstern, see how he could approach her without ended up on Isabelle Lightwood’s radar.

It was, as a great many things involving the Lightwoods, easier said than done.

Izzy had always been at Clarissa’s side every time the girl had left the New York Institute, be it to meet with her vampire boyfriend or with Lucian Graymark, or to walk around in the city – and that was without talking about the hunts they had gone on together.

He hadn’t seen Alec at all, something he hadn’t liked in the slightest, but it wasn’t as if he could do anything about it yet. He had been careful not to let himself being noticed by Circle members or Clave soldiers (one being easier than the other), and although he missed seeing Alec’s tall frame atop buildings, shooting arrows in the night, he wasn’t going to endanger himself just to get a look.

(The very notion was enticing, he wasn’t going to lie about it, but no one would have his back, if he ended up being caught by the wrong people.)

(Henceforth, it was better to plan the way he was going to catch a glimpse of Alec.)

His last encounter with the Elder had happened a week ago and he had spent most of his days flying over the city, trying to find a way to scratch the itch that was building under his skin. The late afternoon was cold and windy, with a wetness to the air that made the temperature seem lower than it currently was. With a frown on his face, Jace considered cutting his flight short, wondering if trying to catch Clarissa Morgenstern without her self-appointed guardian was worth flying in the upcoming snow.

Looking at the city spread under him, he decided to go for one last round before going back to his place. New York was still the same and he almost started losing hope when the familiar shape of Raveners suddenly caught his attention. A thrill of excitement went down his spine and he quickly flew lower, his heart missing a beat when he noticed three figures dressed in black fighting the demons.

His parabatai rune pulsed, warmth spreading under his skin.

_Alec_.

And Izzy and Clarissa – well, here was his chance then. The group of Raveners was huge and his fellow Nephilims didn’t seem to be getting the upper hand, outnumbered four to one as they were.

Time for him to even the fight then.

His appearance came as a surprise – of course it did, no one had noticed him flying over their heads, something that would have to be worked on – but it didn’t quite matter as he joined into the fight, relieved to have an outlet for his frustration and pent-up energy. Clarissa was clumsy despite the training sessions she was still following, while Izzy was both protecting her and getting rid of the Raveners, leaving Alec alone to lead the offensive.

Not for long.

Jace quickly gained the upper hand, his left flank pulsing quickly as he slashed through the Raveners, Alec mirroring his every move – except for the use of his wings, as the dark feathers were folded against his back, while Jace was taking full advantage of them, using them as another weapon.

With his intervention, it was easy to get rid of the Raveners, leaving the bodies to turn to a dusty puddle of ichor, while the three other Shadowhunters were panting, a mix of blood and ichor staining their clothes.

Jace casually got rid of an inexistent speck of dust on his jacket before pushing his hair away from his face, studying Clarissa and the Lightwood siblings.

“Thank you,” Clarissa finally said once she had gotten her breathing back under control, looking at him with interested eyes.

He sent a flirtatious smile her way, smiling inwardly as she blushed a little – and yet still met his eyes, not flustered enough that she couldn’t return his gaze. Good – it meant that she wasn’t easily impressed, something that always came in handy as far as Jonathan was concerned.

“I don’t think I have ever seen you around the Institute,” she went on in a friendly manner, apparently not noticing how both Alec and Izzy had turned to stone behind her – Alec especially looking as if he had seen a ghost. “Who are you?”

“He is a Circle member,” Izzy spat out, one hand still holding her Seraph blade, face cold and eyes simmering with disgust.

Clarissa made a little noise in shock, the look of appreciation on her face turning to surprise and then disdain, causing Jace to raise an eyebrow at her before looking at Izzy, unflinching.

“Not anymore,” he pointed out, forcing his wings to relax in his back.

Her wings were raised high in a protective move, but she didn’t seem ready to attack him, which was as well – he wasn’t quite inclined to attack her either, and he wanted it to be obvious he wouldn’t be the first one to draw blood.

“You don’t have the rune on your neck,” Clarissa said in a less friendly tone, studying him with cold eyes, hands on her hips, wings fluttering nervously behind her.

Jace shrugged.

“I never had it,” he said simply before turning his attention to Alec, who had remained silent ever since the last Ravener had hit the ground.

He was pale, paler than Jace remembered, and the feathers of his wings looked frail and thin – sickly, almost, which made him frown a little. His parabatai was far from looking good, and he winced inwardly at the realization. Alec was studying him in silence, hands crisped over his bow and arrow, refusing to meet his eyes, left arm close to his flank.

And his parabatai rune was still burning.

“I don’t get it,” Clarissa finally said after a long moment of silence, obviously getting uncomfortable. “We’re of the same age and you used to be a Circle member but you’re not anymore? _Who are you exactly?_ How come you know Izzy and Alec? No one ever told me about you… People don’t talk about a rogue Circle member at the Institute either.”

She was babbling and Jace gave her a pointed look, thinking over his next words before being abruptly cut off.

“His name is Jace Wayland,” Alec said in a low voice, turning slightly to look at Clarissa.

The sound of his voice sent a shiver down Jace’s spine. Oh, he had missed that…

“It’s a long story,” Jace added, taking one step closer to Alec and stopping when his parabatai moved backwards, wings twitching nervously behind him.

Feathers dropped on the floor of the rooftop. Jace frowned when he looked at them. They looked even worst as he studied them from a closer vantage, the dim colors and sickly aspect even more evident. It was the tell-tale mark of someone who hadn’t been healthy for a long time – months, at best, but it was more probable that it had been going on for years.

Cold dread fell at the bottom of his stomach at the realization of what it entailed. _Oh, Alec…_

“I have time,” Clarissa said, curiosity clear in her face as she took one step towards him before being stopped by Izzy holding her back by the arm.

“We will tell you at the Institute,” Izzy said curtly, glaring at him, her knuckles white over the handle of her Seraph blade. “Our job is done here, we ought to get back.”

Clarissa opened her mouth to protest but closed it upon seeing the look on Izzy’s face. Her shoulders shagged a little and she gave him one last once-over before shrugging.

“See you around,” she said before taking off for a flight, Izzy and Alec rising in the air after her, wings drawn wide.

A cloud of feathers fell onto the rooftop as Jace watched them fly away in the distance, waiting until they disappeared before looking away. The meeting hadn’t gone as he had thought it would, and although he didn’t think Clarissa would put a fight if they were to cross paths again, he couldn’t say the same about the Lightwoods.

Too bad for them, because he fully intended to find out what had happened to his parabatai – to find out why his wings were looking so bad.

ooOoo

 

The second time he came across Clarissa and the Lightwoods was a week later, during a snow storm that had gotten them to drift away from the group of Clave soldiers that had come across a bigger group of Circle members. Jace had watched from the sidelines, refusing to intervene until the weather had put an end to the fight. No one had died that day, but numerous Nephilims had been wounded, and the storm hadn’t helped in any way. The two groups had forcibly spilt up due to the weather and Jace had followed his targets from the scene of the fight, flying behind them to make sure they would come back safely to the Institute.

He followed them until he saw Alec slowing down behind the girls and finally come crashing down into the window of an empty building, wings curling around his tall frame to cushion his fall. Jace swiftly entered the building behind, careful not to step on broken glass as he walked towards his parabatai, who was kneeling on the ground, seemingly coughing his lungs out. His wings were fluttering weakly over him, the frailness of the feathers seemingly unable to create some additional warmth around him.

Alec didn’t seem to notice his presence until he crouched down next to him and put a hand on his neck, his own white fluffy wings folded in his back.

“I don’t think it’s part of the Institute’s protocols to go out in a snowstorm when you’re already sick,” Jace pointed out in a neutral tone.

He hid the way his heart had missed a beat when Alec tensed under his touch, before coughing again for what seemed to be the last time.

“I wasn’t sick when I left,” Alec finally said in a low voice before letting himself fall onto a sitting position, wings draped over him in a protective manner.

Jace raised an eyebrow at his words but didn’t try to contradict him. Instead, he settled for sitting in front of Alec in what he hoped was a relaxed position, wings spread out comfortably behind him. He studied his parabatai as Alec took in the state of his wings, a strange expression on his face, waiting for him to break the silence. His parabatai rune was warm at his side, giving him enough confidence to remain here and try to talk to Alec.

His parabatai looked better than the week before – not great, but less like he was dead on his feet and only going through the motions.

The snowstorm was coming closer to them and he knew their refuge wouldn’t amount to much, considering the broken window.

“I didn’t know you were back in New York.”

Alec’s low voice broke the silence, getting Jace to look at him more intensely, a frown on his face. His parabatai still wasn’t looking at him, focusing instead on the bow that was lying on the ground between them. Jace watched him brush away the dust that was on it, a comfortable sense of familiarity settling over him.

The parabatai rune flickered slightly, a shoot of warmth that quickly disappeared.

“It wasn’t safe to let it be known,” he answered softly, nudging Alec’s knee with the tip of his wing.

Alec made a strange noise – halfway between a snort and a sob. He looked like a broken man, with a crestfallen expression on his face, and Jace would have done anything to make it disappear.

_“Alec.”_

Dark wings appeared in front of him, forcing his own wing to move away. Jace frowned a little at the gesture, considering his options before moving closer to his parabatai and gently pushing one of his wings away, careful not to put any pressure on the frail feathers. It wasn’t in Alec’s habits to be so vulnerable in front of people and it worried him a little.

(A lot.)

“I know the Clave put a bounty on my head after I left,” he said noncommittally, moving the bow to the side before kneeling in front of Alec, putting one hand on his neck and the other on his wrist, his own wings coming to resto onto Alec’s.

“They did,” Alec said in a low voice, still refusing to look at him, wings twitching.

“No point in making my presence known, then,” Jace pointed out softly. “And it’s still there, isn’t it? Because, even though I left Valentine, I still haven’t joined their ranks…”

Alec nodded but didn’t try to get away from his hands, eyebrows tight in the familiar way that meant he was looking at a problem from every angles as he kept staring at the ground.

The wind had started howling outside and Jace shivered a little as snow was thrown into the building. Looking around, he frowned when he realized they were now in the middle of the snowstorm – and it looked _weird_ , for a snowstorm, rather like a hurricane made of snow, but that kind of phenomena wasn’t natural.

Unless Valentine had been toying with magic _again_.

He must have made some kind of sound, because Alec finally moved his head to look around and then frowned too, wings drawn tight against his body. He was shivering a little, but it was probably more due to the cold than to anything else.

Shaking his head a little, he turned to look at Jace, not quite meeting his eyes.

“You shouldn’t stay here,” he said in a low voice, yet without making a move to push Jace’s hands away.

His expression had changed, the way it usually did when he came to a conclusion and decided to follow through.

“Izzy must have noticed that I wasn’t following them anymore, and if she sees you around…”

“I can take her down without hurting her,” Jace retorted matter-of-factly. “I wouldn’t hurt her,” he insisted in front of Alec’s dubious look.

It pained him a little, that his parabatai thought him ready to hurt Izzy – but he supposed it made sense, considering his past allegiances.

“If you say so,” Alec said with a shrug, looking away.

“I would not,” Jace insisted, moving his hands so that he was holding Alec by the shoulders, rising a little on his knees. “Alec, come on. Parabatai –”

“Don’t call me that,” Alec suddenly hissed, trying to move away from Jace’s grasp, to no avail. “You don’t get to do that after…”

His voice faltered and Jace frowned again, moving one hand to hold Alec by the neck.

“After what? I left?”

Silence fell over them. Jace was ready to wait for a long time, knowing that he was on his way to get some answers, if only he didn’t need to push his parabatai any further.

“After you lied to me and went back to the Circle,” Alec muttered in a low voice, Jace straining to hear him over the sound of the storm.

“I never lied to you,” Jace protested, feeling himself blush a little in front of Alec’s incredulous look. “Okay, I didn’t tell the truth when Valentine sent me to infiltrate the Institute, but I didn’t _lie to you_ – I wanted to become your parabatai, and everything I said about that was the truth.”

His voice had risen during his explanation and he forced himself to calm down a little, sitting down on his knees again, moving his hands so that he was now cupping Alec’s cheeks.

“You – deciding to become your parabatai, and you saying yes – it was my first selfish decision, Alec.” He laughed, a cold, hard sound. “And it was sincere, it still is. I wanted you, I chose _you_ , parabatai. And I still do,” he added more quietly, wings still wrapped over Alec’s frail form.

Alec looked at him with hesitancy, shadows dancing over his face. He seemed hesitant, not quite ready to trust Jace’s words – and he could understand it, no matter how painful it was.

“You didn’t come back to the Institute after leaving the Circle,” Alec pointed out quietly, still refusing to meet his eye – but at least he wasn’t trying to move away from his hold, which was a good point.

“When they had a bounty on my head? Too dangerous,” Jace explained calmly, moving his hands from Alec’s cheeks to his hands, fingers holding tight onto the calloused skin. “I mean, if I hadn’t had any other option, I probably would have come back, but I _had_ other options.”

That got Alec’s attention enough for him to meet Jace’s gaze, curiosity evident in his hazel eyes. Jace felt heat pool at the bottom of his stomach – oh, he had missed the intense look Alec could give him, and he still had the same reaction to his parabatai’s focus…

“The Uprising has picked the Elders’ interest,” he said simply, knowing Alec would be quick to understand the ramifications. “And what Valentine did with _me_ picked the interest of one of them. So, when I decided to leave the Circle, I got an invitation to one of their parties, and well…”

Alec’s hands tightened around his as his breath sharpened. There was some color coming back to his cheeks and Jace felt a surge of warmth coming through the parabatai rune.

“You’ve entered the service of one the Elders?” Alec asked in a low voice, incredulous. “Jace, this is insane, do you any idea how _dangerous_ it is?”

“Better her than Valentine, I assure you,” Jace said with a grim face. “Besides, all she’s asked so far is blood and –”

“And it could get you _killed_ ,” Alec hissed, wings twitching nervously behind him.

Jace shook his head.

“We’re Nephilims, we hunt demons, and we’re at war. Being in her service might get me killed, but so does being part of the Circle, or following the Clave’s orders.”

He smiled bitterly.

“At least she can protect me from Downworlders on a quest for revenge.”

Alec winced at that, before shaking his head. He looked slightly better now that Jace had explained himself, some shadows gone from his eyes, and Jace felt his wings fluff up in pleasure at the sight.

Damn, his wings were still so reactive to each and every one of his reactions to Alec, it was as embarrassing now as it used to be when he lived in the Institute…

“I can’t believe you jumped from the frying pan into the fire,” Alec said in a low voice, wings clenching tight around him as he shivered a little.

Snow was entering the building through the broken window and Jace was starting to feel quite cold too.

“And without –”

He stopped himself curtly, looking away, before letting go of Jace’s hands. Jace looked at him, trying to understand what had come through his mind before adding two and two together.

“Without letting you know? I didn’t want to make things worse for you” and the snort that came at that made him feel guilty, as it was clear things had gone badly in the wake of his departure of the Institute. “I can only imagine how the Clave reacted after I left the Institute, and I didn’t want them to try to use _you_ to get me to come to them, not when I had other plans. It was safer for you not to know what I was getting myself into.”

Alec nodded slowly, a sour expression on his face.

“I would have appreciated a message, still,” he said in a very low voice.

Jace bit his lip, knowing it was the truth.

“I know, and I’m sorry. I thought the Clave would give you more leeway if I didn’t try to contact you at all,” he said simply.

Alec pinched his lips together but nodded nonetheless, gesturing for Jace to go ahead. Jace had often wondered if it had been the right decision, cutting all contact. When he had come back to the Circle, it had been an easy decision to make – Alec was _his_ , and it was absolutely out of question he was going to let Valentine get his hands on him, one way or another. But afterwards?

Afterwards, he had been scared of Alec’s reaction, truth be told, and had tried to make himself worthy of his parabatai again, even if it meant going off the radar for the longest time…

“Besides, the Elder didn’t want me in New York. She thought it would be dangerous, and that I could be better used elsewhere. She had assignments for me all over the globe, you know?”

His voice trailed off and he waited for Alec to react, still holding onto his hands although Alec wasn’t returning the hold anymore.

Silence seemed to stretch forever before Alec spoke up again, shoulders shagging a little.

“She was right,” he said in a low voice, meeting his eyes again. “She still is, actually. The Clave wants you brought to justice, even though it’s common knowledge you’re not part of the Circle anymore. Some thought you would come back to the Institute once you left Valentine, and the fact that you didn’t got them to…” he hesitated for a moment. “Well, they’re suspicious now. Even more than before, I mean.”

“I suppose I will get a brighter welcome if I bring in reinforcements?” Jace asked for a wry smile, relieved when he saw it being mirrored in Alec’s face, even though it was just for a brief moment.

“Probably, yes.”

There it was, the reassurance that his parabatai believed him – and it warmed him from the inside. He opened his mouth to keep talking, wanting to let Alec on more information – there were so many things he wanted to tell him – when the sound of heels clicking on the ground got his attention.

Izzy and Clarissa were making their way on the floor, both looking drenched, feathers ruffled on their wings, a murderous look on Izzy’s face. From the mixed look of disdain and pity in Clarissa’s eyes, he could guess she had been filled in about his history with the Institute and the Lightwoods… well, it could still be of use. After all, there were many things that he had told Alec that were the truth, including the unfortunate fate of his pet falcon.

“Get away from my brother, you _traitor_ ,” Izzy hissed, whip ready to use in her hand.

Jace looked at her and then at Alec, who licked his lips in an unconscious gesture before slowly nodding, squeezing his hands and holding them in silence. They looked at each for a long time before Jace let go and rose to his feet, his wings following behind him, letting feathers drop on the floor.

“I’ll leave for now, then,” he said in a low voice before walking away, careful not to turn his back on Izzy.

His parabatai rune was still pulsing on his flank, a source of warmth that reminded him of Alec’s skin under his hands.

“This isn’t the last time we see each other,” he added, eyes focused on the Lightwood siblings as Izzy rushed to Alec, who was still sitting on the ground, wings drawn high around him in an effort to warm himself. “Clarissa,” he said to the younger Shadowhunter, inclining his head towards her.

“It’s Clary, actually,” she answered in a cold tone, trailing behind Izzy in a stance that was supposed to evoke defensiveness.

She still had to work on her postures, but he could appreciate the effort. She reminded him more of an angry kitten than of a cat ready to attack, but the change would probably come sooner than later, if she had the same skills for battle than her father and brother.

“Clary, then. I will see you again too. And, with your permission, I will bring someone who would very much like to meet you.”

He smiled a little at the look of surprise on her face. Although she got rid of it quickly enough, he could still see the curiosity in her eyes – and was it eagerness too?

“I don’t care about meeting Valentine,” she said curtly, one hand reaching for the handle of her Seraph blade.

“I wasn’t talking about him. Not in the Circle anymore, remember?”

The look both Alec and Izzy sent in his direction clearly showed they didn’t buy in his cocky, arrogant front, but it didn’t matter at the moment – not when Clarissa, _Clary_ , was suddenly looking so eager, all pretense at hiding her feelings gone.

“Then how will you –”

“You’ll find out next time we see each other,” he said with bravado, thinking he would have to find a way to convince Jonathan to join him in his long flights over New York City – something that would be difficult, as he had never been able to do so before.

But Clarissa sure would be motivation enough.

“I want more information about this future meeting,” Clary said quickly as he was preparing to take off, the snowstorm having abated a little – enough for him to jump off the window at least. “And the person you said wants to meet me. He has been raised by Valentine too, right?”

Jace raised an eyebrow at the heartfelt tone of her voice, slightly taken aback – and he wasn’t the only one, considering the look of shock on the Lightwood siblings’ faces.

Oh, she definitely _knew_ , had seen her chance and had caught it. Well, that was going to make things a lot easier for him – and for Jonathan, too.

“Clary, you can’t –” Izzy hissed before being interrupted by Alec’s hand on her wrist.

“Mom said she had left –” Clary hesitated for a moment before bracing herself, meeting his eyes and holding his gaze. “Mom said she had left _someone_ behind, when she left the Circle. Someone who had already been corrupted by Valentine’s experiments.”

Jace looked at her for a moment, eyes flickering to Alec who looked back with an intense light in his eyes. There was more acceptance in his eyes that Jace had expected and he unconsciously moved his hand towards his parabatai rune, feeling warmth rushing under his skin.

Izzy pinched her lips at his action but didn’t say a word.

“Depends on what you mean by _corrupted_ ,” Jace finally said in a slow voice, wings drawn high in his back.

If Jocelyn Fairchild had been the one to talk about Jonathan, it probably wouldn’t have been under a good light – and none of what had happened since would have make this particular impression better.

Clary frowned.

“He is like you?” A heartbeat, then: “My brother?”

Silence fell over the room. Jace blinked, quickly looking away for a brief second before meeting her gaze again.

“Kind of,” he finally said, refusing to look at the Lightwood siblings while Izzy was helping Alec to rise on his feet, one arm around his tall frame. “He didn’t get to go an Institute, though.”

That was as much as he could say with an audience, and although Clary frowned, obviously not understanding what he had meant by that, he hadn’t missed Alec’s reaction – that short intake of breath, and the nervous flutter of wings.

After all, his parabatai and his brother had met on the battlefield before, and Jonathan’s abilities were common knowledge – the most visible of them, anyway. Besides, Alec wasn’t stupid, and Jace knew he would add together all the pieces he had at his disposal.

“I do want to meet him,” Clary said slowly, understanding there was more at work than she had grasped – and yet knowing she could get information from Izzy, given the look they had just exchanged. “He is my brother, after all.”

Jace nodded, feeling relieved at the honesty of her eagerness. In those circumstances, he could be a good emissary.

“He will be delighted to know that,” he said simply, wondering if anyone would catch on the honesty of his words – Alec, probably, considering the look his parabatai had just thrown him, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Clary nodded, looking suddenly more relaxed, as if a weight had been taken off her shoulders.

“Please tell him,” she said quickly, words almost falling from her mouth.

“The rest of our team is coming,” Alec said in a low voice, the intensity of his gaze suddenly catching Jace off-guard.

Jace nodded, looking at him one last time before moving closer to the window, peering outside before making his goodbyes.

“I will see you around,” he said simply before jumping on the other side of the window, wings opening quickly.

The snowstorm had abated ad he flew away, wings flapping easily at his back, bringing him away from the building where he had left his parabatai, a myriad of questions in his head. That encounter had brought on more questions than answers – except for the fact that Clary was interested in meeting Jonathan, something that would delight his brother to no end – and he wasn’t quite sure what was the next step he was supposed to take.

Alec didn’t seem opposed to the idea of reconnecting, if he had read the situation correctly, but that didn’t mean it would be _easy_. Despite what he had said, it was true he had lied to Alec about his familial situation, and the fact that he had remained within the Circle for a full year wasn’t something that could be easily brushed aside. Three years of silence could only be explained so far, and it wasn’t entirely up to him to rekindle their connection now. It depended on Alec too, and he wasn’t quite sure his parabatai was ready to welcome him back with open arms.

Three years of silence and absence, and Raziel knew what the Clave could have done to his parabatai in the meantime…


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry 'bout the lack of update, life got in the way. I hope you'll enjoy the new chapter.

_One week later._

 

Following the snowstorm that definitively didn’t have anything natural about it, demons activity went on the rise again, forcing Jace to put a halt to his plans of bringing about a meeting between Jonathan and Clary. The Elder had sent a message to him, reminding him what he was supposed to be doing, and although he still didn’t clearly understand what she meant by _“your time has come to rise again”_ , he at least knew she expected him to get rid of the demons roaming in her perimeter.

If he was completely honest with himself, he didn’t mind it too much, using the hunt as a good way to blow off some steam, as well as try to get some information about the inner workings of the Institute since his departure. Although he knew that the Lightwoods had lost command of the Institute over the past few years and that the new Head of the Institute was more in line with what the Clave expected, he hadn’t heard anything about the siblings – which didn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things, as Nephilims could get rather jealous of their privacy.

He knew his role within the Circle had become common knowledge among Nephilims and Downworlders alike, with more than a few people wanting his head on a stick – couldn’t blame them when he had blood on his hands, to be frank – but there hadn’t been any word of some kind of blame put upon the Lightwoods since he had left the Institute, or the Circle afterwards.

 _Maybe the Clave had decided to deal with them in private_ , and Jace frowned at the thought as he was sitting atop an old church on the outskirts of Brooklyn, looking at the streets under his feet. He had used a glamour rune on himself so that no unsuspecting mundane could see him, but he knew that it would be easy for a Downworlder to notice him, if they so wished it.

( _Maybe_ he was baiting the High Warlock of Brooklyn a little.)

(Maybe.)

(The Elder had been so _sure_ their paths would meet again, and yet he hadn’t seen the warlock ever since their first encounter, three weeks ago, something he was rather eager to correct.)

(He was curious, sue him.)

Still, he hadn’t learned much more about the Lightwoods since he had decided to spy on Clave soldiers a bit more closely. Izzy still had a reputation for being too close to Downworlders for it to be proper – comments that had gotten Jace to roll his eyes: as if the Shadowhunters complaining about would ever have had a chance with _her_ , she had standards after all – and Alec for being somewhat too uptight about rules, but his parabatai already had this reputation when _he_ had arrived at the Institute.

(Quite a feat, for a child, but Jace had soon found out that Alec liked rules and order in his life – and abiding by rules meant being in control, something his dear parabatai could get almost desperate for.)

(In hindsight, Jace had understood where it came from, the need for control and order, but during those first years, it had baffled him, even though he had been raised by Valentine.)

(Different parents and different childhoods, that was all.)

Still, he was curious, and hadn’t been able to sate his curiosity so far. He had chased and killed a few demons over the course of the late afternoon, wondering when they had grown so indifferent to the light of day, before finding a new perch to rest upon, wings drawn tight around him. He was absently playing with the feathers of his left wing, eyes fixed on the ground under him, thoughts rolling in his mind. The Elder was expecting a report on demons’ activity in two days’ time, something that he had already taken care of – she liked figures and he had always been careful to keep track of the kind of demons he had killed, as well as the numbers – but until then he had free range to do whatever he deemed fit.

 _Maybe he would have to go and ask questions_ , and he made a face at the thought. First of all, he didn’t like to _ask_ questions – and then, to whom was he supposed to talk to? He had no friend at the Institute – Izzy was more likely to whip him than to answer him, and Alec hadn’t tried to find him at all, despite knowing that he was in the city – and he couldn’t exactly turn to the Circle for answers either.

Besides, he doubted Jonathan would have information about it, and the topic of his parabatai was something he avoided talking about when in presence of his brother. Jonathan could get jealous, and had a nasty streak when it came down to it, so there wasn’t any use in trying to get him to help.

(Not when they were walking a fine line as it was, with Jace being out of the Circle and Jonathan still being in. They weren’t enemies – _yet_ – and he wanted to keep it that way.)

Frowning even more, Jace kept picking at the tender feathers of his wings, a pout on his face. The itch for a good grooming session was growing more intense, and although he knew he could always find someone to help him, at least within the sycophants that were following the Elder, he wanted something else.

He wanted _Alec_ to be the one doing it.

Talking to his parabatai had destroyed all the walls he had managed to create over the past three years, and he was now left with a hole in his heart and an ache deep within his bones, the need to be close to Alec almost strong him to choke him.

“Way to go, Wayland,” he mumbled to himself, watching his feathers flying away, their thickness still obvious in the dusty light of the late afternoon – a sharp contrast to the thinness and frailness of Alec’s feathers.

By the Angel, he wanted to run his fingers through Alec’s wings so badly…

“I hadn’t picked you to be of the moping kind,” a sardonic voice said close to him, tearing him away from his thoughts.

Magnus Bane was standing a few feet away, a wry smile on his lips, cat’s eyes flashing vivaciously on his face. His outfit was tame for his standards, and Jace was a little surprise at the lack of glitter in his hair, but didn’t comment on it, preferring to shrug and move his wings behind his back in – what he hoped was – an obvious gesture of sociability.

There was no point in trying to antagonize one of the most powerful warlocks around – especially one who had the ear of the Elder.

(The others could be used for breakfast, as far as he cared.)

“I’m not moping,” Jace said calmly, not bothering to try to hide the way he was eyeing the warlock up and down, a bit curious about his outfit. “Just thinking.”

“Someone else could have attacked you,” Bane pointed out, walking a little closer but remaining standing, forcing Jace to raise his head to look at him.

He didn’t mind. He knew he was on the warlock’s territory – a little show of power wasn’t going to get him to hide in a corner.

“I heard you coming in,” Jace answered in kind, wings fluttering in the wind behind him. “Besides, I can take down almost everyone in this city,” he added matter-of-factly.

Bane raised an eyebrow, eyes glinting in the late afternoon’s light.

“Sure of yourself, aren’t you?” he said in a drawling voice, leaning against the top of the church next to him, apparently unbothered by the fact it was going to get some major dust on his outfit.

Jace shrugged again.

“Just realistic,” he said in the same tone of voice. “There aren’t a lot of Nephilims who can hold their own against me, and the same goes for Downworlders.”

His wings puffed up a little, and he knew the natural light was hitting the golden hue of his feathers, making them look even more striking than usual.

“I have a big advantage compared to most of them.”

Bane snorted a little before stepping a little closer, eyes drifting to his wings, his interest obvious on his face. It was a natural reaction – people tended to be drawn to wings, the appeal of the sky always potent when faced with someone who could fly, and he knew his own wings were even more attractive than expected of a Nephilim: pure white with a gold lining, thick and incredibly soft, a pleasure to have under your hands.

(And a pleasure to have someone running through the feathers, but he tended to keep that little fact a secret, preferring it not to be common knowledge. The extreme sensitivity that came with his wings wasn’t something he wanted to share with the world – only with his parabatai, thank you very much.)

“I suppose you do,” the High Warlock admitted once he was done studying Jace’s wings, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Now, what are you doing here exactly? I didn’t notice any demon on my way up.”

“Probably because they’re already dead,” Jace said with a smirk, not missing the look of exasperation on the warlock’s face at his words – easy to bait, apparently. “Like I said, I was thinking.”

“Not exactly the best place for a former Circle member to be doing that,” Bane pointed out before coming closer, leaning against the belt of stones surrounding the top of the church that Jace was currently using as a seat.

Jace shrugged.

Again.

“I don’t think _you_ are going to attack me, and if you don’t, then other warlocks probably won’t,” he said simply, looking carefully at the High Warlock of Brooklyn. “ _She_ probably wouldn’t like it.”

Bane frowned a little at that, before forcibly relaxing.

“No, she wouldn’t,” he said in a low voice before looking at the sea of rooftops in front of them.

Jace waited for him to start talking again, almost certain the warlock hadn’t come up there to make small talk. There was a nervous aura around him, no matter how well Bane was hiding it – his moves were a tad too sharp, his speech a bit too sour for him to be unbothered.

Well, as unbothered as someone could be, given the circumstances.

“You were right about Ragnor Fell,” Bane finally said after a long moment of silence, shadows in his eyes. “He faked his own death to try to get a new advantage over Valentine.”

“Sensible idea,” Jace muttered before looking at him, wondering how he would react if his parabatai ever did the same thing.

Well, it would be impossible for it to happen, even with a blocking rune, he realized almost immediately. Valentine might have tried his best to destroy the bond, but even he – or, more exactly, _especially_ he – knew what allowed for the bond to be broken, except for death. Deruning, or turning into a Downworlder.

Neither fate tempted Jace in the slightest.

Magnus Bane studied him for a long time, cat’s eyes unblinking, before nodding, looking briefly at his wings before focusing on his face again. Jace felt himself stiffen under the assessing gaze, forcing himself to meet the warlock’s eyes until he was done.

“Ragnor has been able to gather some information,” he started in a slow voice, eyes not leaving Jace’s. “Apparently, Valentine had been conducting experiments in one of the Old Forests… you know what they are, don’t you?”

Jace nodded. Those forests were old – older than civilization, most of the time – and had been used by warlocks all over the world as a sanctuary, a favored place to conduct rituals and powerful spells. Most of them weren’t quite as huge as they had once been, as human greed had caused for too many trees to be cut down, but still they remained, ancient and powerful.

It was bad news if Valentine was conducting experiments there.

“I have already given that information the Institute,” Bane said, something flashing in his eyes before disappearing, “but I suppose I should share it with you too. _She_ thinks you can be of use against Valentine, after all.”

Jace hissed at his tone, wings puffing in his back, but the mere mention of the Elder was enough to get him to bit his tongue. The High Warlock of Brooklyn was right – he hadn’t gone and pledged allegiance to the Elder only to throw his promise to the wind once he would get a good chance to fight against Valentine. The man might have been his father in all but blood, but he was going to destroy the Shadow world if he wasn’t stopped. And if stopping him meant siding with Downworlders, well then so be it.

“There is a creature to be killed there,” Bane went on, still studying him, a satisfied smile on his lips at having gotten a rise out of him.

“I can take care of it,” Jace said, recognizing the peace offering for it was. He rose on his feet, feeling more assured now that he was standing. “Just tell me where it is.”

Amusement flashed into the cat’s eyes.

“Not on your own, no,” Bane said in a calmer voice, obviously serious about that particular matter. “I know you think highly of yourself, Shadowhunter, but this isn’t the kind of creature that can be killed by one Nephilim alone.”

 _Shadowhunter._ The mere use of the title was enough to prove where he stood in Bane’s eyes – and that he grew somber, not bothering with their ribbing anymore, confirmed it.

Their interests were aligned for the time being.

“I do not even think the Clave’s soldiers who are going there will manage to get rid of it on their own,” Bane added quietly.

Jace snorted – a cold, harsh sound that broke what little peace had managed to remain through their discussion.

“That’s why you came to me? To back-up the Clave’s lapdogs?” he asked with disdain.

The High Warlock of Brooklyn gave him a supremely unimpressed look.

“Alexander and Isabelle can hardly be called _the Clave’s lapdogs_ ,” he said in a stony voice, sending cold dread down Jace’s spine. “Clarissa even less.”

“You sent Alec to fight against one of Valentine’s experiments?” Jace hissed as alarms belted in his mind, suddenly moving into the warlock’s personal space before being stopped by a firm hand against his chest.

Bane gave him a strange look, assessing him before speaking again.

“He is not on his own, but they are going to need help,” he finally said slowly, having come to some kind of decision. “Dragons are a difficult feat, aren’t they?”

ooOoo

Jace had never been a big fan of winter – not exactly the best kind of weather to be roaming outside, hunting and killing demons – but winter by the sea during a storm was even lower on his list of favorite weathers.

Flying over the sea was almost more tiring than on land, over a city – pollution notwithstanding – but close to the shore during a storm? In winter? This was the opposite of a good idea. At least he wasn’t on his own – he had tipped Jonathan off, letting him know that it would be a good opportunity to introduce himself to his sister in a somewhat positive light. His brother had agreed to the plan and they had decided they meet where the dragon was supposed to be. There was no need to travel together – it would only attract attention, which was the opposite of what Jace wanted.

The High Warlock of Brooklyn had been kind enough to open a portal for him to go to France rather than letting him sit in a plane to go there, but there was no time to be wasted. Besides, the dragon was supposed to be staying close to the shores of Brittany – a dragon liking water, a sure sign that Valentine had messing with the forces of nature again – and Jace wanted to fly over the landscape before meeting with Jonathan, in order to get a better knowledge of the potential battlefield.

Still, a dragon. A fire-breathing beast living close to the ocean.

Jace shivered a little at the thought, worried about his wings – and even more so about his parabatai, Izzy and even Clary. Alec and Izzy were good fighters, there was no problem about that, but to think they were going to face the beast on their own… no, they would need reinforcements. Jace wasn’t even sure he would be enough to get rid of the dragon – hence one of the reasons why he had reached to Jonathan, knowing that his brother’s skills could prove more than useful in that specific fight.

Once he was done flying over the shore and had located all possible spaces that could be used as a hide-out, he went down back to the ground, waiting for Jonathan to arrive. He didn’t have to wait too long – his brother had an uncanny tendency to arrive right on time, never mind when he had left. Although it probably wasn’t too surprising in that specific situation: they both had been itching for a good fight for a long time now, and Clary was involved.

Clary.

Clarissa Morgenstern. Jace wasn’t sure yet if she wouldn’t be disappointed in Jonathan, once she would have met him – it was far too easy to build up an image in your mind and then take it out on an actual living person once you were confronted with the reality. Still, this wasn’t his responsibility anymore: he had planned everything to get her and Jonathan to meet, and once they would be introduced to each other, his part would be done and he was going to wash his hands off the whole matter.

He had a certain person to get close to again, after all.

Shaking his head, he kept looking at the ocean, shivering a little as he watched the huge waves crashing against the cliffs. The mix of wind and salted water would be hell on his wings, that much he knew, and he was already dreading the grooming session that would come afterwards.

A _whoosh_ of wind got his attention and he turned around as Jonathan landed right in front of him, his huge, black wings spreading in his back before he folded them. They weren’t quite bird-like wings – closer to those of a bat, actually – but they did the job good enough.

“They’re a couple of miles north,” he said as a welcome, looking at Jace’s outfit with a look of appreciation in his eyes. “Those are new,” he added with a little smirk, nodding towards Jace’s clothes.

Jace shrugged, forcing himself to ignore the blood that was rushing to his ears – he wasn’t going to get self-conscious all of a sudden!

“So are yours,” Jace pointed out, not going to get one-upped.

Jonathan’s smirk grew bigger.

They stared at each other for a couple of seconds before looking away, Jonathan coming closer to him, looking at the ocean too.

“We should probably get moving,” he suggested in a calmer tone, satisfied at having riled up Jace already. “I think I saw the dragon on my way there, and they obviously won’t be able to deal with it. They don’t have the skills for that…”

“Clarissa’s there, you know,” Jace pointed out calmly, getting Jonathan’s full attention back onto him.

Jonathan’s eyes flashed black for a moment before going back to their natural color.

“I know.”

He hesitated for a moment.

“Listen, Jace, about the Lightwoods…”

“You’re not going to let them die, or get hurt, because they’re soldiers of the Clave, are you?” Jace interrupted him with a frown, wings drawn high in defense in his back. “I told you where Clarissa was because you want to meet her, but if you’re going to –”

“I’m not going to attack them,” Jonathan quickly said, raising his hands in defense. “I swear. Besides, I don’t think Clarissa would take up too kindly to that.”

“So what, then?” Jace asked with a frown. “You’re the one who said we should hurry.”

Jonathan hesitated for a moment, looking at him with an intense, focused gaze before speaking.

“I’m not going to attack them, but if they attack me first, I’ll defend myself,” he finally said. “Parabatai of yours or not.”

Jace remained silent for a couple of seconds before nodding.

“Okay, fair enough,” he said quietly. “But I don’t think attacking you will be their priority, if they’re dealing with a dragon.”

A pause, then:

“Especially one that was experimented on by Valentine.”

Jonathan smirked again, the brief moment of vulnerability suddenly gone – as it usually was, as far as he was concerned. Jace could count himself lucky that his brother still trusted him enough to lower his guard when it was just the two of them – but perhaps it was only due to Clarissa’s influence. After all, Jace knew that Jonathan had wanted to meet the rest of his family for a long time, and had been jealous of the fact that _he_ had managed to create a new family of his own with the Lightwood siblings.

Still, none of that had managed to come against the bound that had grown during their childhood at the hands of Valentine, and they were still on relatively good terms for now. Jace was intent on getting Jonathan definitely out of Valentine’s hands, and he knew Clarissa could be the key to it – as long as she was ready to give Jonathan the opportunity to prove himself as a good man, which wasn’t necessarily a given.

After all, the two of them had a lot of blood on their hands.

“Come on now, we should get going,” Jonathan said, tearing him away from his thoughts.

They quickly took off in the growing wind, Jace frowning a little as he noticed the huge, dark clouds that were growing darker above the ocean. They probably wouldn’t escape the winter storm that was bound to break down. Now, if only they could get rid off the dragon before it happened…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm always _very_ interested in what you have to say, feedback is more than welcome...


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, looks like the fandom _really_ is dead. Nevermind, here is the new chapter. Also, I didn't mention it on the previous chapter, but I go with Will Tudor's version of Jonathan/Sebastian.

It was pouring rain and rolling thunder by the time they reached the dragon, both soaked to the bone, leather clothes clinging heavily to their bodies. Lightning was flashing across the sky, bolts hitting the ocean every now and then. The dragon was far enough from the shore that there was no risk of mundanes getting caught – especially if they were smart enough not to get outside during a storm, but if Jace had learned anything from mundanes living by the coast in winter, it was that they knew when not to get out.

The dragon was _huge_ – a massive beast of dark scales and long wings attached to its body, with claws that seemed to be strong enough to pierce into a rock. There were three small figures flying around it, bolt of lights reflecting onto Seraph blades, but it seemed to be clear that they weren’t getting anything done with it yet.

“We need to reach for the eyes!” Jonathan said above the wind that was blowing, eyes turning black again. “And to get close enough to reach either its stomach or the junction between head and neck. The scales have to give way for it to turn its head around, so this is where we need to strike.”

Jace nodded before speaking up, eyes fixed on the dragon.

“That’s good enough for me. Are you ready?”

Jonathan rolled his eyes, smirking.

“I’ve been waiting for you, kid.”

Jace bit back a comment with a huff before taking his Seraph blade out of its shell.

“We should get the others to move closer to the shore,” he said as they started to fly towards the dragon. “They’re going to get hurt if they stay around!”

“They’re going to bother us, you mean,” Jonathan corrected him with a shrug. “But yes, fine by me. Get them away while I distract the dragon!”

It was easier said than done – the waves were growing bigger, adding more weight to their wings, pulling them down to the sea, while the dragon was roaming around, apparently unbothered. He spotted his parabatai easily enough, the rune warming up as he came closer, as well as Clary, whose red wings were an easy spot of light to catch in the storm. Izzy was a more complicated matter, her small frame barely distinguishable against the scales of the dragon, but Jace managed to see her anyway.

The dragon roared in his direction and Jace jumped on its face, forcing it to abruptly close its mouth before aiming for one eye with his Seraph blade. The dragon violently flew its head around and Jace missed his mark only by a few inches, cutting into the eyelid before being thrown away. He slid down the scales, trying to find a new weak spot before joining the other Shadowhunters, a frown on his face.

The neck and the stomach obviously were the only spots they could aim for.

“You need to go back to the shore!” he yelled as he came close to the girls, noticing how Jonathan had already flung down towards the stomach of the dragon.

The mere nature of his wings made it easier for him to get closer to the sea without risking to drown, which was why Jace didn’t worry too much for the time being.

“You’re not going to deal with a _dragon_ on your own!” Izzy protested with a huff, exhaustion marking her face. “Not even you can do that alone!”

“I’m not alone!” Jace protested, pointing towards Jonathan and not missing the sound of surprise that came out of Clary’s mouth. “Come on, this is one of Valentine’s experiments, we’re the best to take care of it!”

“You’re going to need backup anyway,” Izzy protested before her attention was caught by an arrow flying next to her head and into a scaled wing that had come for them.

They barely escaped being thrown into the water, both Jace and Izzy catching Clary by the wrist to stop her from drowning. It was clear she had neither the experience nor the stamina to fight in such conditions and they quickly flew away to join Alec, who was in almost static position above them, ready to fly another arrow into the dragon. A few arrows had already landed on the wings but that didn’t seem to be injuring the beast, furious as it was.

“You need to get back to the shore!” Jace said as they regrouped, keeping an eye on Jonathan who was flying around the beast, intent on tiring it out before striking.

“No,” Alec said curtly, barely looking at him before focusing on the dragon again. “You can’t fight it off on your own, Jace.”

“Jonathan is with me,” Jace protested with a hiss, not missing the look of fear and longing on Clary’s face. “Please fly back to the shore and –”

“Hey, it’s gone!” Izzy interjected as the dragon flew under water, the lean frame of Jonathan barely escaping being drown under.

He remained at the same spot for a few seconds before flying into their direction, looking down to try to catch sight of the long frame of the dragon underneath the waves.

“Everybody spread!” Jace ordered before moving around, coming closer to Alec so that their wings brushed together.

Alec looked at him for a brief moment before turning his attention back onto the dragon that was still under water. The little gesture would have to do, and Jace flew away, gesturing towards Izzy and Clary to follow his lead.

“Keep moving!”

His last words almost came too late as the dragon suddenly surged from under the water and onto the sky, aiming for Clary and Izzy who had remained close to the waves, the younger Shadowhunter having difficulties to fly on her own in the storm. Screams could be heard as they all surged towards the dragon, the battlefield becoming messy enough for Jace to lose sight of what was happening as he focused on the neck of the beast. He had barely been able to notice Jonathan aiming for the stomach, and started hoping for all of them to get out of here relatively unscathed.

The beast was growling and roaring, taking advantages of the waves to throw even more water at the five Nephilims, apparently unbothered by the blades hitting its scales. Jace tried to keep an eye on everyone as he was searching for the weak spot on the dragon’s spine, knowing that Jonathan was doing same on the other side, looking for the stomach, but it was a difficult matter – and he almost lost equilibrium when the dragon let himself fell onto its left side, where Alec, Izzy and Clary were all positioned. They barely escaped drowning too, falling onto the water and holding onto the dragon’s wings at the last minute, before reaching the surface of the sea again, gasping for breath.

“Shit!”

“Get out of there!” Jonathan yelled, having abandoned his position around the stomach to jump back onto the spine of the dragon, eyes pitch black, fuming. “Go back to the shore! Go!”

Izzy opened her mouth to protest before closing it as a huge wave hit them all from above, the cold water drenching them and disorientating them. Even the dragon had been surprised by it and Jace took advantage of the opportunity to stab it between two scales, feeling a surge of satisfaction as the beast roared in pain, ignoring the warm wetness on his hands. There was at least _one_ weak spot he could focus on…

“We’re not leaving you alone with that dragon!” Clary protested, still holding onto the scales, eyes fixed on Jonathan. “You need all the help you can get!”

“I need to focus on that dragon, not on wounded Shadowhunters!” Jonathan snapped, gesturing at Alec and Izzy who were huddled up together, a massive gash on Alec’s left leg bleeding heavily. “Take your wounded teammates and leave! We’re handling it together!”

As on cue, Jace managed to strike the dragon between two scales again, sending the beast to roar and rise up. Screams could be heard again as all five Shadowhunters lost their footing and started falling down onto the sea, only avoiding diving into the waves by spreading their wings. Both Izzy and Clary came to help Alec flying away, one wing stuck in a strange position – and it was the last sight Jace got of his parabatai before focusing on the dragon again, slipping against the scales as the salted water kept hitting him from every side.

At least it was only Jonathan and him now – and he knew why his brother had been so adamant on getting the other Shadowhunters to leave, wounds be damned. Jonathan didn’t like it when he had an audience while using magic – at least, not when he was using it for a good cause, as such was the case. Red flames busted around his wings as he scanned the dragon, Jace firmly holding onto the scales next to the left wing that still had a few arrows stuck to it, ignoring the salted water that felt like fire into the cuts of his hands.

“You hit too low the first time,” Jonathan finally said once he came down, flying next to Jace, sounding a bit tired. “Aim a little higher next time – and hurry, it’s going to get under anytime soon now, it’s growing hungry.”

“Got it,” Jace said with a little nod before jumping back onto the spin of the dragon, careful of where he was putting his hands.

Jonathan had gone back to flying on front of the dragon to catch his attention and keep it focusing on the annoyance in front of it, not on its back. Jace knew he only had a short window and hurried up the spine, reaching the place where he had successfully wounded the dragon the first time before going higher. He could almost see a dark, blue-green light radiating from inside the dragon, a light that wasn’t without reminding him of the color of the sea. Frowning a little, he palpated the scales, bemused at the warmth that was radiating from the dragon before realizing it was water-fire that growing stronger from inside, something akin to a wheezing sound accompanying it.

“Jonathan, get out!” he yelled before striking the dragon between the scales.

Just in time, as the dragon roared and the light died out, before the beast fell onto the ocean. A dark green-brown light appeared before disappearing into the waves and Jace would have kept looking at it, drowning with it, hypnotized, if Jonathan hadn’t come and dragged him away, tugging none too gently onto his wrist.

“Dear Father had put a spell on it,” Jonathan said as they flew away, still holding onto Jace’s wrist, a shadow on his face. “I don’t understand how you broke it but it’s gone now.”

A frown appeared on his face.

“And you’re still bleeding,” he added matter-of-factly, forcing Jace to take a look at his hands.

There were two long gashes, on one each palm, and he frowned a little before shrugging, tugging his wrist away.

“I’ll take care of that once we’re back on land,” he said calmly before turning his attention onto the trio of Shadowhunters who were slowly flying in front of them.

They were a bit too close to the sea for it to be safe and Jace felt his heart stop for a brief moment as he realized there were at least two wounded out of three, explaining why they hadn’t managed to get away any faster. Moved by an impulse, he flew a little faster, Jonathan following next to him. They quickly reached the other Shadowhunters, Jonathan coming to support Clarissa as Jace took care of Alec, who was livid, blood still dropping from his leg, Izzy trying to steer them into the direction of a little cavern that was in front of them, its opening cut into the grey stone of the cliffs.

They landed none too gently, a mess of wet feathers and limbs entangled together rolling on the ground before Izzy managed to jump back onto her feet, Jonathan rising up swiftly in her lead. They started at each other for a long time, Clary struggling to sit down with her wings knotted together in her back, eyes jumping from one to the other, barely paying attention to Jace and Alec. Izzy’s whip slowly came into her hand and Jonathan rose his wings in a defensive manner at the sight, tensing up, before Alec coughed and tried to roll on his side to sit down, leaning heavily against Jace at the same time.

“No fighting,” he gasped in a low, coarse voice, coughing again before turning his attention onto Jonathan, studying him.

Jace was on his knees behind Alec, hands firmly set onto his parabatai shoulders, wings lax in his back, and looked at Clary before turning his attention to Izzy, whose distrust was clear in the hard lines of her face. They were all covered in salt water, with algae stuck between their feathers, consequences of their respective falls into the ocean.

“Is the dragon dead?” Alec asked, wheezing a little.

He was shaking slightly and Jace hovered over him, holding him a little tighter to warm him up. Jonathan looked at them, expression undecipherable, and remained silent for a few seconds before nodding.

“Jace killed it.”

“It was a team effort,” Jace quickly pointed out, looking at Izzy with raised eyebrows.

Jonathan nodded again, quick on imitating his behavior – he was, after all, the one who knew the Lightwoods the best, and Jonathan could respect that – before tilting his head to the side, bat-like wings dripping onto the floor of the cavern.

Sea weed slid down and fell off with a little _thump_.

“The three of you tired it enough for us to get rid off it,” he added calmly, turning slightly to look at Clarissa. “Thank you for your help.”

“Hum...” she blushed a little before shaking her head. “Thank you for _your_ help,” she said in return. “We were there first, after all. How did you get here?”

“Yes, Jace,” Izzy’s voice was smooth as honey, sending cold dread down his spine, “how come you and your… _friend_ were here?”

Jace tensed for a moment before forcing himself to relax, hands still holding onto Alec’s shoulders but this time to anchor himself under the dark gaze that was drilling holes into his skull.

It was going to take _a lot_ to get Izzy to forgive him.

“Magnus Bane tipped me off and I asked Jonathan to come and help me,” he answered quickly.

Izzy’s look of disbelief almost got a smile out of him but he forced himself to keep his composure, even when Alec turned to look at him, surprised.

“You know Magnus?”

There was something in his voice that Jace didn’t like, but he shrugged it away, forcing himself to remain smooth under Jonathan’s and Izzy’s watchful gaze.

“We have an…” he hesitated for a moment, “acquaintance in common.”

Jonathan snorted at that before turning his attention to Clarissa, offering her his hand to rise up on her feet. She took it without hesitation, almost tripping once she was up, and henceforth falling into his arms. Jace felt Alec move feebly under his hand, and allowed himself to finally fully focus onto his parabatai – on the way his heart was beating fast, on the warmth of their rune against his left flank, on the thin and frail dark feathers between them.

Alec’s left wing was twisted, but at least his leg wasn’t bleeding anymore.

“Come on, let’s get you somewhere more comfortable,” he suggested gently, moving so that he was kneeling on Alec’s left side, turning his back onto Jonathan and Clary, Izzy a few feet away.

She let go of her whip in a show of compromise and he relaxed at the gesture, noticeably enough that Alec’s wing brushed his side.

“We should all move closer to the inside of the cavern,” she suggested in a flat voice, eyes darting from one Circle member to another (former or not, it was clear they both held the same contempt in her eyes). “And start a fire, too. Does anyone have a lighter?”

There was also some wood in the cavern – branches that had been thrown there by the wind as well as roots – and Jonathan had a lighter, which meant that a few minutes later, they were sitting around a fire in a half-circle, deep into the cavern. There was a bend a few inches after the entry – that could be used as a flying platform, should anyone need it – and behind that bend the cavern was going deeper and deeper, meaning they could settle safe from the storm raging outside, and with a fire both to light the cavern and warm them up. All of them had brushed the sea weeds from their wings and onto the ground at the entry of the cavern, not even considering using them as fuel for the fire – wet vegetables were the best way to get it to die out rather than keep going.

Jace and Alec were sitting in the middle of their half-circle, with Izzy on their left, her back against the cold stones, staring at Jonathan and Clary who were on the other side, the younger Nephilim obviously fascinated by the stranger with such unusual wings. Oh, Clariy wasn’t stupid, and Jace knew _she_ knew who was in front of her. Besides, it wasn’t as if anyone could miss it – they looked too similar, with high cheekbones, the pale hue of their skin, and a similar bone structure down to the same long, aquiline nose.

But it wasn’t down to him to deal with that anymore – he had a wounded parabatai to focus on.

Alec was quiet – a little too quiet for it to be normal and Jace decided to move and sit at his right, turning his back onto Jonathan and Clary, a position that allowed him to keep an eye on Izzy. Even though she seemed more focused on the long-lost pair of siblings in front of her, Jace knew perfectly well she was also keeping an eye on her big brother, even more now when he was wounded.

“I need to set your wing straight,” he said in a low voice, getting Alec’s eyes to focus on him rather than on the fire.

There was hesitancy and a hint of pain there, an unusual mix that squeezed Jace’s heart because it resumed to its normal beating. All he wanted was to take his parabatai’s pain away and get Alec to smile again, a smile that would reach his eyes and warm him again, rather than let him in such a poor, cold state. But he knew it would take some work – and he was more than up for it, decided to find his place at his parabatai’s side once again.

“I suppose you do,” Alec finally said in a non-committal voice before spreading his wing to the best of his capacity, remaining firmly sit in front of the fire.

Jace swiftly moved behind the half-open wing, palpating the wings gently to get rid off the salt he could see before moving towards the zone that was stuck, fingers gracing gently the sensitive feathers. He felt more than he heard Alec’s sharp intake of breath and the way he forced himself to relax, a little smile dancing on his lips. His parabatai had always been so sensitive every time Jace had played with his wings – and he might have taken a little advantage of it, delighting in his easiness to turn Alec into a puddle under his hands.

(Not that Alec hadn’t retaliated, given the opportunity – both knew they were completely useless right in the aftermath of a good grooming session.)

Still, now wasn’t the time for that, but rather for carefully warming the sensitive feathers and then putting them back in position. This was going to get a little tricky, and Jace knew he had to relax his parabatai as much as possible for it to go smoothly – a task he was more than up for. He focused on grooming the wing slowly at first, warming every feather before putting it back in its rightful place – or taking it away, if necessary. Alec started to doze off when he was halfway there, Izzy’s eyes softer than he had seen them in a long time as she was looking at them, having given up on studying the Morgenstern siblings. Now was therefore the time for Jace to set the wing straight – something that he did in a few moves, Alec grunting and stilling for a moment before all the tension he had been carrying evacuated and he let himself fall backwards onto Jace’s waiting arms, livid.

Jace brushed away the sweat that was beading up before brushing his lips against Alec’s temple, a move that was enough to get him to reopen his eyes.

“Are you okay?” Jace enquired quietly, his left wing coming to cover them, effectively blocking Izzy’s view of them.

Alec hummed quietly, licking his lips a few times before turning his head to look at him.

“Yeah, it’s better now,” he answered in the same way, looking at Jace, a vulnerable look in his eyes. “You…”

He hesitated for a moment and Jace’s right hand moved down from Alec’s wing to his back, and then into his stomach, left hand resting atop Alec’s parabatai rune, his shirt a simple barrier between their skins.

“I should probably take care of your leg now,” he suggested in a low voice, not missing the way Alec was completely letting go against him, warmth ever-present on his left flank.

Alec nodded and sat down a little straighter, opening his left wing widely in his back, a look of satisfaction on his face as no pain accompanied the move. Jace slightly moved to the side, peering at the wound on his parabatai’s leg and making sure there were no scrap in it – such as a piece of scale – before nodding in satisfaction and taking his stele out. He reached for Alec’s shirt, not missing the aborted gesture of his parabatai to reach for his wrist before stopping himself, a shadow passing on his face for a moment before going away. Jace tugged on his shirt a little to reach the iratze, eyes stopping on the parabatai rune for a moment, a block of ice falling at the bottom of his stomach.

There was a blocking rune on top on the parabatai rune – an unexpected mirror of the one he had on his body – and he moved to graze it faintly, fingers shaking, before Alec grabbed him by the wrist forcibly and pushed his hand an inch lower, on top of the parabatai rune.

“Clave’s orders,” Alec said curtly, meeting his eyes with something akin to defiance. “Once you left to go back to the Circle, they thought it would be easy for you to manipulate me through the bond if it was left open…”

“Same reasoning Valentine had,” Jace said in a whisper, meeting his eyes with calm, lifting his shirt briefly so that Alec could see for himself.

A short, cold smile graced his lips.

“I guess they still are much of the same stock, aren’t they?” he added bitterly before pushing his short down, his other hand still on Alec’s parabatai rune.

He was briefly aware of the weight of Jonathan’s gaze at the back of his head but remained focused on Alec, who was looking at him with an undecipherable expression on his face.

The moment stretched out before something moved in his expression, and he seemed to relax a little, shadows disappearing from his eyes.

“I suppose,” Alec finally said noncommittally before squeezing his wrist a little, reminding him he hadn’t moved there to strip him of his clothes without purpose.

(Not that Jace would have been opposed to stripping him off his clothes, if they didn’t have an audience.)

Nodding, Jace reached for his stele and he activated the iratze, watching with satisfaction as the rune glowed before turning his gaze to Alec’s leg. The wound started healing on its own, the two sides of the gash stitching themselves together slowly before a crude scar finally appeared.

“This is going to mark,” Jace finally said after a time, once it was obvious the iratze wouldn’t do anything more.

Alec shrugged.

“Not the first scar I will have,” he mumbled before reaching for Jace’s hands, forcing him to present his palms for inspection.

There was a mix of dried blood and salty water on the pale skin and he frowned a little at the sight, one calloused finger grazing the cut on Jace’s right hand before moving to his wrist.

“Your turn,” he said, simply reaching for the hem of Jace’s shirt.

It was something they had done hundreds of times and yet Jace couldn’t help but blush a little as Alec tugged his shirt away – and his reaction didn’t go unnoticed, as Alec raised an eyebrow at him before biting his lip, amusement flashing across his face as Jace’s blush deepened. He caught Jonathan’s smirk from the corner of his eye and refrained from flipping the bird at him, focusing instead on the warmth of Alec’s hand on his skin.

Alec activated his iratze quickly enough but didn’t move to examine his hands right after, focusing instead on the parabatai rune – and the blocking rune on top of it. He was thoughtful as he looked at the black lines, fingers grazing hesitantly at the mark Valentine had put on Jace’s body before going a little under. Jace felt a bolt of lightning coursing through his body as Alec’s hand went to cover his rune, warmth suddenly filling him as the rune glowed faintly.

Well, that was unusual – and unexpected.

Alec looked at him, a little perplexed, before moving his hand away, Jac quickly tugging his shirt down. Their reactions had gotten everybody’s attention in the cavern and the other discussion that was going on had died out, leaving them ample space to speak up.

“What?” Alec finally snapped, a little aggressive, and Jace felt some pressure disappearing at seeing the old personality of his parabatai reappearing.

Alec was still a grumpy porcupine and he loved him all the more for that.

“Nothing,” Jonathan finally said, an amused smile gracing his lips as Izzy said “You guys aren’t very discreet, that’s all.”

“Are they supposed to be discreet about something?” Clary asked innocently, getting a laugh out of Jonathan and Izzy, who seemed a lot more relaxed now than before.

“We have nothing to be discreet about, we’re parabatai,” Jace answered her simply, moving to sit close to Alec, their shoulders bumping, getting a snort out of Izzy, her reaction mirrored by Jonathan.

“Sure,” Izzy said, rolling her eyes, before stretching her legs in front of her and putting her attention back onto her wings again. “Keep on being tactile, Wayland – or is it supposed to be Morgenstern, now?”

Her question lacked the aggressivity Jace would have come to expect in other circumstances, and he shrugged, feeling something flare up inside him as Alec put his right hand onto left right knee.

“Still Wayland, you know. That was true then and it’s still true now. Besides, there is only one Jonathan Morgenstern,” and he nodded towards to Jonathan, who raised his hands with an amused smirk – but soft eyes as he looked at Clary.

“Guilty as charged,” he said mockingly.

From the way Alec had shifted closer to him, Jace knew he was grateful for the change of topic – he had never liked being the center of attention, especially as far as their relationship and bond had been involved. Maybe it would have been easier if they had both come out about it before Jace had left the Institute, but as it stood, they had danced around the issue until his departure, remaining in some sort of limbo that left things a bit difficult to pick up exactly where they remained.

Somehow, Jace didn’t think they would remain in the same state this time – not when they had been given a second start, free from lies and half-truths.

He was true to himself now, without living a lie in someone else’s name, for someone else’s gains.

“And what are _you_ going to do, now, Jonathan?” Izzy enquired – the tone of innocence in her voice not enough not to get alarm bells ringing into Jace’s head.

Considering the look on both Alec’s and Jonathan’s faces, he wasn’t the only one.

“Wait for the storm to die out, for starters,” Jonathan said slowly. “And then… I will see.”

Izzy squinted at him but didn’t have the time to say anything as Clary spoke up.

“You’re leaving? But you’re not going back to Valentine, are you? He is bad news.”

Jonathan hesitated for a moment, eyes briefly flickering to black – something that was more due to a surge of feelings rather than a desire to scare her off, Jace knew it – before speaking up, keeping his tone of voice calm.

“I’m not going to join the Clave, Clarissa. And for the time being…”

He raised his eyes to Jace, who held his gaze. Until recently, Jonathan had been the only person to know to whom Jace had gone when he had left the Circle – although without knowing specific details, but enough to keep his mouth shut on the topic.

“My place is within the Circle, at Valentine’s side.”

Jace tilted his head to the side, studying him, before nodding, the message taken in account. He had always made it clear to Jonathan that he could try to give him a way out, should it be required, and he was glad his offer was finally taken.

Disappointment was clear on Clary’s face, and nobody missed the snort coming from Izzy, but no one commented on it.

“For now, maybe,” Alec said quietly, obviously careful about his choice of words. “But maybe, you could do as Jace did.”

Silence fell over the cavern and all turned to look at the pair of parabatai, the intensity of their focus enough to impress people less used to that kind of scrutiny.

“Maybe,” Jonathan finally said with a shrug before meeting Jace’s eyes again, giving a signal again. “But I do not have the kind of… acquaintances Jace has.”

“That could be arranged,” Jace said in a low voice, a bit impressed at what Clarissa had managed to do in such a short time – but perhaps Jonathan’s longing for his sister ran a lot deeper than he expected.

Perhaps Jonathan was already more than chaffing at Valentine’s leash on him.

“It might be so, but it would have to be dealt with in the future,” Jonathan firmly said, putting an end at the discussion. “For the time being, I think that my plans include a grooming session. Clarissa, you never had to deal with wings after a bath in the sea, have you?”

This marked the end of the discussion, something that all present respected. Izzy went back to her wings, looking at Jonathan with the kind of intense focus she usually reserved to the bodies in the Institute’s morgue – a topic of study, a problem to be solved, a mystery to be discovered. Alec, for his part, moved a little farther from the fire – and from the rest of the circle – Jace following him gladly, suddenly a lot more conscious of the way his wings were gorged with salted water.

This was going to be hell to wash.

“I think I have another wing that requires your help,” Alec said in a noncommittal tone, not quite looking Jace in the eyes.

Jace felt his heart tighten at the sight, the connection between them suddenly back to the way it had been before they had found their way into the cavern. Still, his parabatai had asked something of him and the least he could do was to abide by his desires. Besides, it wasn’t as if it was going to be such a hardship to be running his fingers through Alec’s feathers, no matter how thin and frail they were.

He started working in silence, tuning out the slow buzz that was Jonathan and Clarissa’s conversation, focusing instead on the feeling of the feathers under his fingers. He did enjoy it more now that Alec had activated his iratze, and he wondered if it was the same for his parabatai. Oh, Alec had been pretty into it before, but now he seemed to be subdued, left wing folded at his side, gazing absently at the fire. Jace didn’t dare interrupt his reflection, the new connection between them still fragile, and instead worked in silence, working out the knots and putting the feathers back in place until the wing had a much better look to it. Finally, Alec turned to look at him, an undecipherable expression on his face.

“Your turn,” he said after a moment of silence, having read something in Jace’s face.

He had always been bad at hiding his thoughts, especially from his parabatai, he knew it all too well.

They exchanged position, Jace spreading his wing far behind him to allow Alec to work easily on it, and let himself be soothed by the talented fingers of his parabatai. It felt like heaven and coming home all in one, and he had to stop himself from moaning out loud when Alec worked out a particularly resistant knot as pure bliss washed over him.

“You’re still so sensitive,” Alec whispered in his ear as he moved closer to his back, having started from the further point of his wings.

“You would be, too, in my position,” Jace slurred back, slightly turning his head to look at his parabatai.

Alec was staring, a bright light in his eyes, color back to his cheeks – if it was the heat, the action of the iratze or something else, Jace couldn’t tell.

“I _was_ in your position,” Alec pointed out after a bit, an eyebrow raised. “And this is something that hasn’t changed; you’re still so sensitive, parabatai…”

The word came out as a whisper, something Jace had to strain to hear – and then he had to force himself not to kiss Alec, the shadows on his parabatai’s face enough to stop him for the time being.

“What was true then is still true now, Alec,” he said in a low voice, moving to take Alec’s wrist and put his hand onto his own parabatai rune, the bond flaring up again, as it had done before. “I didn’t lie about _this_ ,” he said forcefully keeping his voice low, holding Alec’s hand in position. “I chose you, parabatai – and I would gladly do it again, in this life or in another. _You_ are _my_ choice, freely made, and for myself, not for someone else or on somebody’s orders. It was all _me_ , and still is.”

Alec stayed silent for a moment, looking at Jace, eyes searching on his face – and he seemed to find it, because his eyes softened, the shadows disappearing, and his spread his fingers slightly over the parabatai rune, thumb brushing over the skin.

Jace shivered slightly and Alec smiled a little, moving his free hand so that it was now grasping the feathers on the wing he had yet to take care of.

“You need to let go of my hand if you want me to take care of your wing,” he said in a gentle tone, eyes growing fonder when Jace squeezed his wrist before letting go.

The urge to kiss Alec had come back stronger and he had to clench his right hand, cutting at the freshly healed cut on his palm to stop himself.

“We have to do something about the blocking runes,” Jace said quietly once Alec had started working on his right wing, focused on his task. “We can’t keep going on like that. It could work while I was away, but now, it’s a hindrance…”

Alec hummed quietly, a soft expression on his face. He looked different now, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and Jace wondered if it was only a figment of his imagination, or if it was true. The light of the fire wasn’t strong enough for him to be _sure_ , and it was gnawing at him, the desire to be close to his parabatai in every possible way.

“I know,” Alec said simply. “But it was always supposed to be temporary, wasn’t it? The Silent Brothers told me it was impossible to permanently block a parabatai bond, and I doubt that even Valentine would have managed to do so…”

“Well, it clearly isn’t fully blocked,” Jace answered, turning his head to look at him over the top of his wing. “But we have to get it back to its natural state.”

Alec smiled – the calm, assured smile of a man with a plan, feathers shining softly in his back, the redness of the fire’s flames reflecting onto them.

He looked every inch the leader he had been raised to become and Jace felt himself fall a little more in love with him.

“I know that. Do you think you could come to the City of Bones any time soon?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, comments are appreciated, blablabla. Next & last chapter to come in a couple of weeks. Might come in sooner if you drop your thoughts.


	5. Chapter 5

“Blood doesn’t lie, child.”

Jace raised his eyes to the tall figure of the Elder, who was staring at the horizon from the roof of her current manor. The pale light of the moonlight was making her skin almost glitter in the night, as if it were marble come to life. She had summoned him back to the manor on the heels of his return from Brittany, eyes bright and heart close to bursting with love for his parabatai – ah, the sweet memory of Alec’ hands on his wings… he had thought he would never be able to delight on it again, and yet his parabatai had been quick to disprove him of that terrifying idea – and he had been swift to answer her call, only waiting for the day to pass before going to the manor.

He needed his sleep, after all – and going to meet the Elder without being fully rested was never a good idea, considering how she, and the others, were inclined to toy with mere mortals. And that wasn’t without mentioning the herd of visitors that was crowding the place, as well as the numerous Downworlders vying for protection and favors. Too many of them would only be too glad to ty to take a hit at him, in revenge for all the crimes he had committed during his time at Valentine’s side.

“I suppose not, my Lady,” he answered carefully, not knowing where she wanted to go with that line of thought.

She could be so _mysterious_ sometimes, and he had quickly given up on trying to understand what was going through her mind. He knew she looked at the current events with detachment given by centuries of experience (and he didn’t know if _centuries_ were the right way to count, as far as the Elders were concerned), an outlook that was sure to bring plans on the longer scale that him – or anyone else with a limited time on Earth – could come up with.

She shifted slightly to look at him, a little smirk at the corner of her lips, her long cape brushing over her clothes. Jace huddled a little closer onto his wings, grateful for the protection and warmth offered by his feathers against the cold November wind. Of course, a double pair of wings could prove more useful, but he wasn’t quite there yet.

(He was – rather impatiently – waiting for Alec’s signal to go and meet him at the City of Bones, where they were almost certain to find a way to destroy the blocking runes without harming the parabatai bond.)

“One can taste the true character of the person they are drinking from, with enough experience,” she clarified, amusement dancing in her eyes. “And yours has always been honest, in the years I’ve known you.”

Jace’s hand unconsciously moved to his neck, where he could feel the fresh mark left on him by the Elder, who had taken to drink from him before asking for his full report, unflappable as ever as he told her everything by the menu, including the way the High Warlock of Brooklyn had informed him of Valentine’s latest experiment.

“Thank you, my Lady,” he said gratefully, bowing his head in her direction.

Well, this was a good thing to know – at least he was assured she wouldn’t drop him until he was done with his mission, which ensured enough protection until the end of the war. He certainly wasn’t going to spit on such a gift.

“Bring your brother to me, once you are done with him,” she went on, blue-grey eyes shining bright in the moonlight. “His heart is of interest to me, too.”

Jace frowned at the demand, slightly perplexed – but he couldn’t exactly refuse her. After all, he had counted on his closeness to the Elder to convince Jonathan he had a way out of the Circle that didn’t mean going to the Clave, but he had intended to do it on his own terms…

“My brother Jonathan?” he asked carefully, wanting to make sure he had understood her correctly.

The Elder nodded, smirk still firmly in place.

“You and him are two sides of the same coin, my dear child. And his blood is of great interest to me. Besides,” and her smile grew wicker, “don’t you want to be assured he will leave Valentine’s side in due time?”

Jace frowned again and pondered over his answer, making sure he would choose his next words correctly.

“I already think he is on his way to do so, my Lady,” he said slowly, making sure his respect was obvious enough in his voice. “Jonathan has been wanting to be with Clarissa for a long time now and –”

“And you know what Valentine thinks of love, don’t you child?” the Elder interrupted him, forcing him to hold her gaze.

Jace felt ice pooling at the bottom of his stomach. He remembered all too well all long it had taken him to believe into the love that had been offered to him by the Lightwoods – and he had only fully trusted them by the time he had bound his soul to Alec’s, the bond forever reassuring him that he was loved, truly and truthfully. It had taken years, though, between his arrival at the Institute and the parabatai ceremony – and doubts had grown in the three years between his departure and his reconnection with Alec.

Jonathan, on the other hand, had never been given the chance to find a new family of his own, and despite his ache for Clarissa, for his sister and his mother, Jace wasn’t entirely sure he would take on the opportunity to join the other half of his family.

(The better half, a little voice corrected in his mind, as Valentine and Lilith had been parental figures to him since his childhood after all.)

(Jace had never gotten to tread with her, the Mother of Demons having no interest in a child with no demon blood, which had been a blessing in disguise.)

“I do, my Lady,” he finally answered after having been lost in his own thoughts, the expression on the Elder’s face making it clear she knew where his mind had wandered.

“Then bring him to me,” she ordered him calmly, the steel obvious in her voice.

He bowed deeply to her, the conversation having come to an end, and was ready to walk away, knowing she didn’t like it when he flew away from the rooftop of her manor, before she called him back.

“And do get in touch with the High Warlock of Brooklyn, too.”

He turned to look at her, incomprehension of his face – but she was only smiling, amusement evident in her eyes.

“My Lady?”

Her smile grew bigger and she motioned for him to leave without answering his question or explaining the idea she had in mind, leaving him feeling a little unsettled. Still, he had his orders, so he quickly took his leave and left the manor as quickly as possible, avoiding the vampires that were lounging there.

He took a big breath once he was back on the street, the cold November air grounding him a little as he walked down the alley, putting a glamour on him until he could find a spot to fly away. His phone buzzed as he was ready to take off, and he quickly looked at the message that had arrived, eyebrows raising as he took in the meeting point that was suggested by Jonathan. Still, he was glad his brother had reached out to him rather than deciding to mull over whichever problem it was that he was encountering on his own.

It was a short fly to the church Jonathan had picked, barely leaving Jace enough time to wonder what this was about. He quickly spotted his frame, black wings with red highlights easy to recognize even the middle of the night, and Jace landed net to him in silence, their wings brushing as he sat down.

He waited in silence for Jonathan to speak, knowing the troubled look on his brother’s face – and that it was best to let him start the conversation.

He didn’t have to wait for long.

“Clary wants me to meet Jocelyn,” Jonathan said in a low voice, looking right in front of him.

Jace stared at him, eyebrows raised.

“This is a good thing, isn’t it?” he asked carefully, not wanting to accidentally poke a sensible topic.

Jonathan made a face before half-turning to face him, wings plastered against his back.

“Jocelyn left as soon as she realized what I could do,” he pointed out in a voice that was as neutral as possible – but Jace knew him well enough to hear the pain underneath. “I don’t think she will be too happy to see me again, after everything.”

“You can’t know that for sure,” Jace protested. “Clary wanted to meet you, didn’t she? And she still wants to spend time with you now, right?”

He waited for Jonathan to nod before going ahead.

“So why don’t you think it will be the same for Jocelyn? She is your mother after all.”

“Lilith has been more of a mother to me than _she_ ever was,” Jonathan grumbled before looking to the lit buildings around them, seemingly without seeing them. “Besides, Clary doesn’t know me that well –”

“She knew of your reputation, still wanted to meet you, and decided you were still worth it after having met you,” Jace was quick to interrupt him, getting a snort out of Jonathan.

“Just because your parabatai decided to keep you even after knowing the truth doesn’t mean my sister will want to do the same.”

The flatness in his voice was unnerving, but Jace wasn’t going to let it go to his head – even though he had blushed slightly at the mere mention of Alec, heart fluttering.

“You shouldn’t make the choice for Clary,” he finally said, letting go the reference to his parabatai, although he knew Jonathan had noticed his reaction.

It was obvious in the smirk at the corner of his lips – and sometimes, Jace wondered how obvious he was in his affection for Alec.

Oh, well, they were parabatai – their souls were _bound together_. What else was to be expected?

“I’m not making the choice for Clary,” Jonathan said in return, shrugging a little.

“You’re well on your way to do so,” Jace pointed out. “Give her a chance, okay? Give yourself a chance, too,” he said in a lower voice.

He didn’t need to say more – he and Jonathan had had that particular conversation a few times already, and Jace hoped some of it had managed to stick by now. Some of his arguments had managed to land, if Jonathan’s reaction was anything to go by.

“Maybe don’t meet Jocelyn right away, but spend more time with Clary before making a decision?” Jace suggested as he huddled his wings closer to his body, trying to keep some of his body heat in the coldness of the night.

Jonathan studied him for a moment, eyes pitch black in the moonlight, before his shoulders sagged a little.

“I suppose I could do that,” he said in a low voice.

Jace nodded in appreciation, the demand of the Elder still at the back of his mind, before noticing the glint in Jonathan’s eyes.

“But enough about me,” Jonathan said with a voice that was all too cheerful for Jace to feel reassured – if the brutal switch in conversation hadn’t been enough to get his attention, Jonathan’s voice certainly was. “Now that your parabatai has decided to _take you back_ , what you are going to do about it?”

“This isn’t like that,” Jace protested, cheeks burning as he didn’t miss the innuendo in his brother’s voice.

“Not yet,” Jonathan said with a smirk, cackling a little as Jace cuffed him with his wings. “And you wouldn’t complain if it were, wouldn’t you?”

Jace’s cheeks reddened even more and he cursed his complexion as Jonathan was obviously having a lot of fun riling him up – even more now that he had bared his soul, at least a little. A defense mechanism, maybe, but he usually was the one paying for it.

“You are _pining_ ,” he said after having studied Jace for a few seconds, the delight in his voice obvious. “Oh, this is even worse than after you came back from the Institute –”

“I am not _pining_!” Jace protested, cheeks flaming up. “I miss Alec, that’s all!”

“You completely are,” Jonathan went on without caring about the interruption, his gleefulness starting to get on Jace’s nerves. “Oh, this is _rich_ – one night spent in a cavern with him and you’re pining even worse than before. And don’t try to deny it, I can see it, it’s all over your wings.”

Jace closed his mouth, retort falling from his lips.

“What do you mean, it’s all over my wings?” he asked incredulously as Jonathan shrugged a little, glee disappearing from his tone.

“They’re… I don’t know if _brighter_ is the right term, but they shine more than they used to. They did that after you came back from the Institute, and dimmed, and now they’re shining bright again.”

Jace remained silent for a moment, cheeks still pink, the warmth inside his heart threatening to overwhelm him. He hadn’t realized it was so obvious – but how could he have done so? He had never been happier than when he had been with his parabatai, and he hadn’t been able to compare his wings between before and after, too used to seeing them day-to-day to notice the difference.

“You’re really gone for him,” Jonathan said, shaking his head.

“I guess this is what happens when you find your parabatai,” Jace answered in a low voice, looking at the city spread around them.

Jonathan remained silent, a thoughtful expression, leaving Jace to his thoughts. Maybe this was why he had always been able to _feel_ something from the bond, even after Valentine had burnt a blocking rune on it – because it was a match blessed by the Angel itself, and not a bid for power, as it sometimes happened.

ooOoo

It had been a few agonizingly days of waiting, but a week after their encounter in Brittany, Jace finally landed in front of the entry of the City of Bones with a soft _thump_ , dust rising around his boots as he hit the floor. Alec was already there, leaning against the wall, wings folded in his back. Despite the time spent in salted water, they looked a lot better than the last time Jace had seen them, less frail and thin, shining slightly in the moonlight.

He caught Alec’s attention as soon as he was on land, the parabatai rune burning slightly at his side, and he couldn’t help but smile when his eyes met Alec’s gaze, a turmoil of emotions shining bright in hazel eyes.

“ _Jace_ ,” Alec said in a voice that was charged with emotions, and they quickly walked to each other, meeting in the middle before hugging fiercely, wings brushing in their backs, feathers intertwined in a white and dark mix.

Jace felt himself melt into the embrace and he knew he wasn’t the only one. Alec’s grip was almost too tight on his back and he could hear his shaky respiration, hear beating like a wild animal in a cage. Still, he felt more at home now than he had had in the past three years, and he took the time to indulge into the hug, the contact enough to soothe his frayed nerves.

When they finally separated, it was to keep holding onto each other, eyes shining bright under the moonlight, and Jace felt the sudden urge to kiss Alec, only stopping himself at the last moment, not wanting to push farther the fragile equilibrium they had recreated. Alec kept looking at his lips for a few more seconds before meeting his eyes again, the tip of his ears turning red.

“We should get in, they will be waiting for us,” he finally said, taking a step back.

“Lead the way,” Jace said in return, the tip of his wing brushing against Alec as they walked into the City of Bones.

The fire message had been simple, telling him that they had an appointment with the Silent Brothers, with the date and time, but it had been enough for Jace to spring into action, sending caution to the wind. Besides, the message had been written in their usual code, giving him no reason to be careful about it. Still, he hadn’t entirely lost his caution and he had scanned the surroundings multiple times before going down, a thrill of excitement going down his spine at the idea he was going to get reunited to his parabatai. Alec’s enthusiasm when he had landed had erased his last doubts and he was now ready to face whatever might come their way, as long as his parabatai was by his side.

It was cold and chilly, the sculptures carved from the walls enough to put him on guard, but he didn’t let it go to his head. There was no reason he would get attacked here – he had come in _peace_ , after all, and it was common knowledge that he had left the Circle two years ago. The Silent Brothers didn’t have a reputation for attacking people who didn’t deserve it – or for attacking people at all, period, contrary to the Iron Sisters.

Alec’s hand was brushing against his and he almost moved to hold it when a tall, hooded, cloak-wearing figure suddenly appeared in front of them, soon followed by two other figures.

The Silent Brothers.

“Brother Zachariah,” Alec said respectfully, wings drawn high in his back, standing tall and proud in the corridor. “We have come for –”

_The parabatai bond. We are aware, young Lightwood. Please follow us._

The voice sounded almost hollow in his head and Jace bit back a grimace at the noise, uncomfortable. Still, he followed in silence, making sure to stay close to Alec, one hand brushing the handle of his Seraph blade. He was probably too cautious but it could never hurt in time of war – who knew what could happen, even deep into the City of Bones?

The walk through the corridors didn’t last long and they soon entered a room that seemed to be the infirmary. Brother Zachariah gestured for them to sit down on one of the beds and they obeyed, remaining close, wings brushing together.

_Show us the runes_ , Brother Zachariah instructed as the two other Silent Brothers were standing behind him, faces hidden by their cloaks.

Jace and Alec exchanged a look before getting rid of their jackets and shirts, carefully putting them away. It was cold in the room and Jace shivered a little, wings huddling around him to keep warm. Alec didn’t seem to be faring much better and he frowned a little when he realized that he could see his parabatai’s ribs rather easily now. Alec refused to meet his gaze, focusing instead on the ground in front of him, tension visible in the lines of his body.

The parabatai rune was of a bright red on both their bodies, with the blocking rune clearly visible on top of it, the dark lines standing almost obscenely against their skin. Jace had never liked the sight, but it was even worse than before now – it looked like someone else’s mark on his body, where only one claim was supposed to be present.

_This is Valentine Morgenstern’s work_ , Brother Zachariah said after a beat – and Jace was sure he could have seen his eyebrows rise, had it not been for the hood.

“Yes, he was intent on blocking the bond, considering he couldn’t destroy it without killing me,” he said, regretting his choice of words as soon as he heard Alec’s little gasp. “Can you get rid of it?”

Brother Zachariah remained silent for a moment before nodding.

_It won’t be long, but it will be painful. Please do lie down, on separate beds._

Jace and Alec looked at the Silent Brother before looking at each other and then shrugging. Jace rose on his feet, squeezing Alec’s shoulder before moving to the bed that was closest, shivering a little as he lied down on the cold sheets. His wings were twitching every now and then, and Alec moved on the other side of his own bed to grab his hand and squeeze it, a kind light in his eyes.

“It will be fine,” he promised, wings flattered against his back.

_You will be fine as soon as we are done_ , Brother Zachariah promised with unexpected gravity before moving away and leaving the room. One of the remaining Silent Brothers motioned for them to lie down, examining them slowly, nodding every now and then.

It was unnerving, to say the last, but Brother Zachariah quickly came back, carrying a stele that looked nothing like those he had seen before. This one seemed to be made of crystal, glittering in the dim light of the room as if it was sunny outside – instead of a night where the stars were hidden, with only candles to lit the room.

_I will start with you, Jonathan Wayland. You were the first to have the blocking rune, weren’t you?_

Jace nodded, not trusting his voice – he remembered all too well how the connection had shut down when Valentine had applied the rune on his skin, how the warmth and love, dimmed as they were, that had been pouring from Alec’s side had suddenly disappeared. Those weren’t memories he wanted to revisit and he focused instead on the wall in front of him, biting his lower lip hard enough to draw blood as Brother Zachariah applied the stele against the blocking rune.

It hurt like _hell_ , with blood pooling at the surface as the lines were slowly redrawn, disappearing without leaving a scar, the red liquid running down his body before staining the sheets underneath. Blood was buzzing in his ears and he didn’t quite realize what was happening around, wings fluttering and feathers falling to the ground, as voices could be heard.

He lost track of time, barely noticing the Silent Brother who was at his side, keeping him firmly onto the bed, apparently indifferent to the wings that were moving fiercely. Only the knowledge that he wasn’t with enemies managed to keep him relatively calm and restrained him from doing something stupid – such as attacking the Silent Brothers.

Alec was still around, that much he could tell, and the knowledge suddenly hit him in the face as the connection was reopened, the feeling so intense it knocked him out for a few seconds, leaving him gasping in the bed.

It was mind-blowing, the outpour of love and warmth that was suddenly surging through his blood, the heartbeat he had grown to know as well as his own beating against his ribcage again, a presence that had been sorely missed over the past two years. It was everything, and yet it couldn’t quite compare with the intensity that surged through his veins when Alec came to sit next to him and touched him, strong, calloused hands firm on his shoulders, a worried expression on his face.

“- talk to me, Jace, _please_ ,” and he was almost begging, causing Jace to blink and slowly move his hand to cup him by the neck, fingers ghosting over his skin.

“I’m here,” he said in a voice that was hoarser than he had expected it to be, still feeling a little dazed.

Relief was obvious on Alec’s face at his words, the bond thrumming happily between them, all-encompassing love engulfing everything in its way, making it difficult to distinguish the other emotions that were also floating through the bond. Jace was dimly aware that the Silent Brothers had left the room and closed the door behind them but it didn’t matter in the face of Alec’s presence next to him. He let himself being guided into a sitting position, wings spread behind him against the back, Alec’s hands still holding him while his parabatai was sitting next to him.

He couldn’t have said who moved first but soon they were kissing, crashing into each other with the urge that came from three years of desperate ache and longing, with want that was even older than that – that had been present since the time of their parabatai ceremony.

It felt like heaven and coming home all at once, a terrifying, exhilarating feeling that Jace never wanted to see end – until they had to separate to catch their breaths. By then, Alec was fully seated on his lap, towering over him with his wings fully spread in his back, feathers all fluffed up – but it was nothing compared to his mussed-up hair and the redness of his lips, and Jace would have come back to kiss him, hadn’t Alec put a hand on his torso to stop him, trying to catch his breath.

He was smiling, though, the kind of private and tender smile that had always been reserved for Jace, making him melt a little at the sight. Time had stopped for them, leaving them in a little bubble from which nothing could get them away.

“That was…” he started saying, stopping to search his words.

“I know,” Alec said with a soft voice, eyes crinkling.

“Long overdue,” Jace finally decided on, before tugging Alec a little closer to kiss him again, the gesture much softer and more intimate this time.

They kissed lazily for a few moments, the urgency of their first embrace having abated a little, enjoying the reconnection that came from being able to just touch each other, a physical closeness that had the bond singing between them, sparking fireworks in their blood. At one point they started to move a little, Alec sliding down to the bed so that they were now face to face, wings sheltering them from view, but both being to see what could come from each side of the room.

“I missed you,” Jace admitted quietly once they were done kissing, eyes roaming Alec’s face while one hand was still cupping his cheek, the other set firmly on top of the parabatai rune – that had regained its usual vibrant black color.

“I missed you too,” Alec said in return, mirroring his position except for the fact that he was playing with Jace’s hair, fingers grazing at his skull and making him melt into the touch.

There was something infinitely soft in his eyes and Jace felt himself blush a little under the adoring gaze, not quite believing that this was happening – reunited with his parabatai, _finally_.

The knowledge quietly settled over him – and over Alec, too, as his parabatai seemed to be sated and settled, shadows completely gone from his eyes. Although he still looked like he need a full week of sleep and enough meals to put back the weight he had lost, he was now closer to the man Jace remembered from his time at the Institute, rather than from the ghost he had first seen three weeks ago. It seemed incredible that so little time had passed, and yet so much had happened. Jace quietly thanked the Angel for the blessing that was having his parabatai back in his life again.

All the pain and loneliness of the past three years had been worth it, in the end.

Neither of them was willing to break the comfortable silence that had settled over them, but there were plans to be made, and Jace sighed a little at the idea, relaxing into Alec’s hands, feathers gently caressing his skin. The coldness of the room didn’t bother him as much anymore, not when their wings were covering them, body heat still present between them. 

“What will you do now?” Alec enquired curiously, never stopping playing with Jace hair, his other hand drawing circles over Jace’s parabatai rune. “I know you haven’t been with Valentine for a long time now, but… your whereabouts have been a little mysterious, you know. You told me you haven’t been in New York, but that’s as far as I know. And the Clave have been waiting to get their hands on you,” he added more seriously.

“I know,” Jace answered in the same tone, moving closer. “But I’m staying on my own for now. Well,” the thought of the Elder had crossed his mind, “not exactly, but I’m not going back to the Clave. They don’t know how to run this war, and won’t win it if they keep going at it that way.”

Alec studied him carefully before nodding, a thoughtful expression on his face. There were still a great many things he needed to re-discover about his parabatai, but it would be for later – they had a few urgent matters to deal with for now.

“You’re staying in the Elder’s service for now, then,” and Jace nodded at that, not surprised that his parabatai would figure it out. “You can’t keep fighting on your own, though,” Alec said quietly – but Jace still knew him well enough to hear the protest underneath. “This is dangerous. If Valentine gets his hands on you…”

“I’m not alone, not anymore” Jace said in the same tone of voice, bringing their foreheads together. “I have allies – someone you should meet.”

Not that he wanted particularly to have the Elder get a taste of Alec, but he knew she could probably offer a better protection that anyone else in the Shadow world, Downworlders and Nephilims alike.

Alec’s eyebrows were raised, a tell-tale sign his parabatai wasn’t entirely convinced, but it didn’t matter – he had time, now, and the parabatai bond on his side to assure Alec that he was honest about his intentions, always had been.

“I won’t leave you again, parabatai,” he promised, the last word almost swallowed by Alec’s lips against his, the bond thrumming happily between them, love covering them like a blanket.

They were far from being at peace now – there was Valentine to deal with, and the Clave, and even the Elder, and that went without talking about all the relationships that needed to be dealt with, but none of these seemed like that such an impossible task now.

Not when he was in Alec’s arms again, where he belonged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading this story! I had a great time writing it personally :)

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is always appreciated and more than welcome :)


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